Mayo Clinic Health Manager
Get free personalized health guidance for you and your family.
Get Started
About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Complementary and alternative therapies for migraine
By Mayo Clinic staffComplementary and alternative therapies may be helpful in the treatment of migraines — or may offer additional options for easing the pain. In most cases, researchers haven't adequately studied alternative treatments using widely accepted scientific methods. Even so, some evidence indicates that certain alternative treatments may help manage the symptoms of migraine. Among your options:
Acupuncture
This ancient technique uses hair-thin needles to promote the release of natural painkillers and other chemicals in the central nervous system. There is some evidence that it can help control headaches and other conditions that cause chronic pain.
During a typical session, up to 20 needles may be placed into your skin for 15 to 30 minutes. There should be little or no pain from insertion of the needles. It may take several sessions to see results. If your headaches don't improve within six to eight sessions, acupuncture is not likely to help.
Biofeedback
This relaxation technique gives you some control over automatic body responses involved in triggering headaches. These responses include muscle tension, heart rate and skin temperature. Initial sessions are often done in a physical therapy clinic or medical center, where you practice the technique for later use at home.
Hypnosis
During a hypnosis session, a trained hypnotist might suggest ways to decrease your perception of pain and increase your ability to cope with it — such as visualizing a calm, safe place when a headache strikes. Hypnosis success depends on the expertise of the practitioner and on your willingness to participate. If you're open to the idea, you may eventually be able to develop the skills to hypnotize yourself.
Meditation and yoga
Meditation is a way to calm your mind and body. During meditation, you focus on a simple activity, such as breathing or repeating a single word or phrase. The practice creates a deeply restful state in which your breathing slows and your muscles relax — which can help you manage pain and reduce the stress that can trigger or worsen a headache.
Yoga combines gentle breathing exercises and meditation for a similar effect. To be effective, yoga requires discipline, concentration and regular practice.
Massage
Massage can reduce stress, relieve tension and promote relaxation. It can also increase production of the body's natural painkillers. The value of massage as a headache treatment hasn't been determined, but it may be particularly helpful if you have tight, tender muscles in the back of your head, neck and shoulders.
Dietary supplements
There is some evidence that magnesium, 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP), riboflavin (vitamin B-12) and coenzyme Q10 may be somewhat helpful in preventing migraine. However, you may need to take these supplements for several months before seeing any beneficial effects. The herbs feverfew and butterbur also have been reported to help prevent migraines or reduce their severity.
Keep in mind that there's a variable amount of scientific support for each of these treatments. And over-the-counter supplements can interact with other medications you may be taking. If you're considering using supplements to treat headaches, first check with your doctor.
Chiropractic care
Chiropractic care involves manipulating, stretching and adjusting joints or vertebrae to relieve pressure on nerves or other nerve problems. Although spinal manipulation can effectively treat some types of pain, there are no adequate studies to support claims that chiropractic care relieves migraines.
If you choose to try chiropractic care, proceed with caution. Chiropractic manipulation of the neck has been associated with injury to the blood vessels supplying the brain. Rarely, this may cause a stroke.
Pros and cons
Various complementary or alternative therapies may offer relief from medication side effects or enhance pain relief provided by other treatments.
But not all complementary and alternative therapies have been studied as headache treatments. Some therapies may interfere with the effectiveness of prescription or over-the-counter drugs. Others may not be effective — or safe.
If you'd like to try a complementary or alternative therapy, discuss the risks and benefits with your doctor first.
Emerging treatments for migraine Prevention medication for migraine: Pros and cons
