The month of June is dedicated to awareness of many different health conditions, and we’ve been looking at some of them during the past weeks. June also happens to be Migraine and Headache Awareness Month, so let’s take a closer look at the holistic treatment of severe, chronic headaches (No, Mr Hugo Broos, these won’t work for the kind of headache you’re dealing with, but we wish you all the best for the knock-out stages).
Where Does Headache Come From?
28.35g of prevention is worth 453.59g of cure. This axiom is certainly true for headaches. Understanding the cascade leading up to a headache is crucial in preventing it. Although the different types of severe headache have different causes, there are common pain pathways that give us options regarding prevention.
Firstly, the brain cannot feel pain. It has no pain sensors. To solve headaches, we need to look at other structures in and around the skull.
Let’s begin by listing the top 5 kinds of severe, chronic headache:
- Migraine
- Cluster headaches
- Chronic headache
- Trigeminal neuralgia
- Idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH)
If you’ve never experienced any of these, count yourself lucky. Severe headache is one of the worst pains a human being can suffer. Big Pharma offers relief, but only for a short while. In order to find permanent relief, we need to dig below the surface.
Let us work from the brain outward.
Dura mater – The brain is covered by three layers of tissue (the meninges). The outer layer, the dura mater, is rich in pain receptors and sensitive to pressure changes.
Periosteum – The thin layer covering the outside of the skull contains pain receptors.
Cranial Nerves – The trigeminal nerve (#5) and vagus nerve (#10) are especially important in headache.
Scalp – Muscle tension pulling on the periosteum can trigger pain.
Sinuses – Cavities around the eyes and teeth, lined with periosteum, can refer pain back to the brain when pressure increases.
Blood Vessels – Vessels inside the dura mater can distend it, causing classic migraine pain. Blood viscosity increases during a migraine, and the carotid artery’s carotid sinus can also play a role.
The Devil’s Own Medicine
Big Pharma managed to smuggle a Trojan horse into the headache market. It is called codeine. South Africa is one of the only countries in the world where this highly addictive and toxic medication can be obtained without a doctor’s prescription. Preparations containing it count among the top sellers in the health category in South Africa (although stats are hard to come by).
When it comes to headache, it does relieve even severe headaches in many / most cases. This is why it is so popular. However, taking codeine for a headache books your next headache, typically three or four days into the future. Far enough that the user will not connect the next headache with the dose of codeine. A vicious cycle gradually ensues. Eventually, the absence of codeine in the blood triggers intense headaches. At this stage, professional help is needed to break the addiction cycle.
Never EVER use codeine-containing products to treat ANY headache.
It’s Food, Captain, But Not As We Know It
The modern food chain is littered with “soft toxic” substances. They’re not poisons, but they’re not entirely safe, either. Chief among these are:
- sugar
- caffeine
- alcohol
- MSG (mono-sodium glutamate)
- nitrates / nitrites (as in hot dogs)
- artificial sweeteners, especially aspartame
- sulphur dioxide
- titanium dioxide
…and many more. For headache-prone individuals, a clean diet low in these triggers can be transformative.
Natural Interventions That Work
Magnesium – Magnesium deficiency is implicated in migraine pathology. Oral magnesium supplementation (400–600 mg/day) has been shown to reduce migraine frequency.
Vitamin D – Low vitamin D levels correlate with chronic headache. Restoration to optimal levels often improves symptoms.
Melatonin – A dose of 3–10 mg taken 1 hour before bedtime can stabilise serotonin and dopamine production and deepen sleep, leading to a more thorough brain clean.
Co-Enzyme Q10 – Critical for electron transport inside mitochondria. Studies show it reduces migraine frequency by one third at 100–200 mg daily.
Omega-3 Fatty Acids – Found in fish and spirulina, they reduce inflammation, lower blood viscosity, and stabilise neuronal membranes. Multiple studies show a 30–40% reduction in migraine frequency with 2,000 mg daily. We offer Omega-3s in Fish Oil and Algae Oil form.
Plants – Ginger root, turmeric root, feverfew, and butterbur all have proven benefits in headache treatment, primarily as anti-inflammatories (and ginger also helps with nausea).
In Summary
Nobody needs to suffer from chronic, severe headaches. There are many natural and holistic interventions available to us, most of them cheap or free. Yes, they require a degree of self-discipline, but they come without nasty side effects.
To your pain‑free health!
The Team at Integrow Health
