Headaches An Integrative Medicine Approach

By Jennifer Lee, DO, MPH

What does integrative medicine mean? It uses the best of the conventional therapies and complementary therapies to find the optimal treatment plan for every individual. Every headache is slightly different and different types of headaches require different approaches.

Looking at conventional therapies, most are medications such as tricyclic anti-depressants, anti-seizure medications and triptans. There are also nerve blocks, injections, and finally, surgery as a last-resort solution. Although they can usually help with symptom control, they seldom get to the root of the problem.

An integrative approach to headaches involves looking at what happened before the headaches and what is causing the inflammation? Is it food, the environment, or maybe a structural problem? Is it lack of sleep? Is it lack of nutrients? Looking in our “tool box” we can use conventional medicines, exercise and diet, functional medicine, osteopathic manipulation, and acupuncture to eliminate the headaches.

We cannot over-stress the importance of diet and exercise. What you eat three times a day is no match for any medication. Drinking diet sodas, eating lots of dairy products, and not consuming enough vegetables can cause headaches. Food sensitivities play a huge part in inflammation and there is a test called the ELISA/ACT/LRA test that looks at how your white blood cells react to different chemicals and foods. I have many stories of patients who made changes through their diet and lifestyle and have eliminated their headaches.

An integrative, functional medicine approach involves giving our bodies the ingredients to function optimally. Magnesium, vitamin B6, CoQ10, and vitamin D deficiencies can all cause headaches. Taking certain medications, having a poor diet, and drinking too much alcohol can also cause nutritional deficiencies over time that lead to headaches.

Osteopathic manipulation can help if there is any dysfunction in the body's muscles, soft tissues, or bones. This can be due to prolonged immobilization, repetitive motions, old injuries, car accidents, bad posture, and poor ergonomic work stations. Using gentle release techniques, the physician looks for any restrictions and treats those areas. The approach is to release any tightness and increase blood flow to those areas so that the body can heal itself. One patient had been in a car accident and was hit with an airbag. She started having headaches a few weeks later. When I examined the patient's head, it looked like there was a “stuck” area resulting from the impact of the airbag and she felt relief after I treated her.

Acupuncture is tremendously helpful in the treatment of headaches. The Cochrane Collaboration review and Duke University concluded from the analysis of several studies, that there is consistent evidence that acupuncture can provide beneficial support to the treatment of acute migraine attacks and chronic daily headaches with little risk.

Sometimes it's not about the headaches, but about minimizing the meds you are taking, treating your stress, sleep deprivation, lack of exercise, and poor diet. Using an integrative approach, not only can your headaches be treated, but you will also be healthier in general.