Are There Any Effective Ways To Treat Headache Pain Using Alternative Medicine?

Dr. Timothy Collins answers the question: 'Alternative Medicine For Headaches?'

By
Timothy A. Collins, M.D., Assistant Clinical Professor of Neurology, Department of Medicine, Duke University Medical Center
November 11, 2008, 5:17 PM ET
1 min read

— -- Question: Are There Any Effective Ways To Treat Headache Pain Using Alternative Medicine?

Answer: There's two medications that have been shown to be clinically effective for treating migraine headaches that are available over the counter.

The first is a herbal product called butterbur root extract, sold in the United States as a brand name called Petadolex that's often combined with other herbal products. This was shown in the study published in 2004 to be effective for preventing migraine headaches in over two-thirds of the patients that took it.

Vitamin B2 has also been used for headache prevention and has shown similar results of clinical trials, although those studies were published over ten years ago.

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