There are ways to treat a migraine that can help in acute cases as well as preventively – with medication or of course. Reassuring to know, after all, migraine is a chronic headache disorder that cannot be cured and rarely disappears with age. Targeted treatment and preventive therapies can alleviate the suffering. Here you get an overview of migraine treatments.
What do you want to know?
- Therapy planning
- Treatments
- Tips and tricks
- Multimodal therapy
AdobeStock_232436362Migränetherapie: On which pillars it is based
First of all: Migraine patients are not left alone with their complaints. The aim of the treatment is always to work out a therapy scheme together with the treatment doctor, which is individually tailored to the individual case. Migraine treatment means much more than prescribing painkillers or special migraine remedies. In order to find out what can help against migraine, it is necessary to discuss with the patient exactly what the joint therapy planning looks like, because: A successful and holistic treatment of migraine, which considers both drug and non-drug options, begins with a comprehensible and detailed explanation for the patient.
The therapy planning consists of the following points:
- Consultation (if the diagnosis of migraine has been made beyond doubt, the doctor explains, for example, the causes of the disease)
- Behavioral measures (for example, recognizing and avoiding personal migraine triggers)
- Self-observation and follow-up
- Therapy and prevention of attacks (both in acute cases and in prophylaxis, there are drug and non-drug approaches)
- Evaluation of therapy
In order to see whether the current migraine treatment brings something, keeping a migraine diary is very useful. In it, all migraine attacks are noted with date, duration and pain intensity as well as the medication taken.
A holistic treatment includes not only the correct therapy of migraine, but also migraine-specific prophylaxis. Migraine treatment: medication, prophylaxis and alternative options
No one has to deal with their migraine symptoms alone – there are various options available for relief. In order to promote the success of treatment, adherence to therapy is particularly important. This means adhering to the therapeutic measures that have been discussed with the doctor and heeding his tips against migraine.
The doctor must take into account the personal migraine type for the tailor-made treatment – 22 types are distinguished. For example, in the case of migraine with aura, triptans should only be taken after the visual symptoms have subsided.3 For a migraine without aura, however, it is better to use the remedy right at the beginning of the attack.1Migraine acute treatment with medication
For acute therapy in the event of an attack, migraine medications with various active ingredients are recommended. As a general rule, stick to the recommended dose. Migraine treatment often fails because the medication is underdosed.2 Conversely, it is also strongly advised not to take too much medication (according to the motto “a lot helps a lot”), as overuse of painkillers risks developing a permanent headache. You can follow this:
- mild to moderate pain: Migraine painkillers from the group of NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) are suitable here. They block the perception of pain and can thus relieve discomfort.
- moderate to severe pain: Triptans are special migraine medications that work in several ways. They should be taken a maximum of ten days a month.
- Nausea and nausea: Antiemetics alleviate the well-known accompanying symptoms of migraine. Especially if vomiting is in the foreground, it is advised to use the agents early and rectally as suppositories or as an injection under the skin.
Important: Painkillers and triptans can cause headaches with frequent use.4 To prevent this vicious circle from occurring in the first place, make sure you take them well dosed and not too frequently. In the case of chronic forms of migraine, it is worthwhile to talk to the doctor about prophylaxis measures. Treating migraines naturally
There are many reasons why some patients don’t want to take medication for migraines: a planned pregnancy or worry about possible side effects are just a few. There are plenty of options for alternative migraine treatment, for example:
- Coffee with lemon
- rising foot baths or cool pours over arms and legs
- Salt and ice packs for the forehead
In our extra article you will find the home remedies for migraine explained in detail.
Homeopathy also has many remedies ready to treat a migraine naturally. The effectiveness has not been scientifically proven, but many sufferers have had good experiences with it. Prevent attacks with migraine prophylaxis
If you want to treat migraines naturally and prevent them, you can choose from various measures. Especially popular are:
- Relaxation techniques, such as progressive muscle relaxation
- actively reduce stress
- Acupuncture
- Biofeedback
- but psychotherapy can also help.
In addition, there are various medications to choose from, which can be taken preventively against migraines. Most of them are actually used for other diseases, their effect against migraine was discovered by chance. These include, for example, antidepressants or beta-blockers. The agents must be used over a longer period of time, side effects are possible.
A novel and targeted migraine prophylaxis is an antibody therapy: For this purpose, the doctor or the patient injects the active ingredient under the skin once a month. This intervenes in the process of pain development. Whether the prevention is effective can be assessed after a few months. Tips & tricks for successful migraine treatment
It is more than understandable that sometimes the courage seems to leave you when side effects occur with the drug treatment, the treatment success does not really want to set in or you have to cancel private meetings or business appointments despite all efforts because you are in bed with migraines. Even if the episodic and chronic migraines cannot be cured: Stay on the ball. The treatment of migraine requires perseverance and continuous work, both on the part of the doctor and the patient.
A great help in migraine treatment can be,
- place clearly visible notepads or
- save a reminder in your mobile phone.
For example, you will be regularly reminded of exercises to be performed for muscle relaxation. What else you can do to support your migraine treatment: link taking medication or certain applications to everyday rituals. For example, always relax after brushing your teeth with biofeedback, a method that works best if you practice it regularly. With this technique, you learn to change your own body signals in such a way that pain can be relieved. Multimodal therapy: Holistic approach to the treatment of migraine
The best way to find out which migraine treatment helps you is to combine different therapy methods together with your doctor and coordinate them closely – as with multimodal therapy. There are also studies on effectiveness: the headache frequency of patients whose disease is already chronic can even be reduced by more than half.5 In multimodal therapy, professionals from different fields, such as doctors, psychotherapists and physiotherapists, work together to treat the patient in the best possible way and tailored to his individual needs.
Migraine treatment as part of a clinical trial
In addition to the already approved active ingredients, new drugs are constantly being developed. Research on drugs already available on the market is also often continued in order to further develop them. Study participation can therefore be a possibility of migraine treatment.