SCOTTSDALE, AZ -- Dr. Joseph Rotella of
Scottsdale Medical Center says it's estimated that 28 million Americans suffer with headaches, millions more with chronic pain issues, and 25 million spend $5 billion a year on medication just for migraines.
If you have not had one, you likely know someone who has.
Dr. Rotella says migraine prevention is the best strategy, or better yet, natural prevention is the best intervention.
Migraine prevention is sought when one has three or more migraines a month or two or more migraines that last more than three days.
There are four FDA approved medications to prevent migraines. But they don’t go without side–effects.
There are many natural alternatives that were actually studied in clinical trials to prevent migraines.
The natural preventatives include, magnesium, riboflavin, feverfew, Co – Enzyme Q10, and Butterbur.
It's also noted that many patients taking birth control or other medications may even be depleted in this nutrients and may be predisposed to migraines.
Another important key is to know your triggers. Well-known triggers for migraines are stress and certain types of foods.
Dr. Rotella says there are many more triggers that are sometimes overlooked, like sleep disturbances, muscle spasms in neck and low back, spinal misalignments, allergies, weather changes, hormone imbalances, nutritional deficiencies, food intolerances, other underlining problems such as celiac disease, depression/anxiety, and fibromyalgia.
Dr. Rotella also believes there may be more than one type of headache present in each patient and it is not uncommon to see migraines, tension-type headache, cervicogenic headache, and medication overuse headache all in one patient.
By treating all headaches, with a conservative natural approach combined with medical management, you'll see a drastic improvement in migraines.
