Is Long-Term Headache & Migraine Relief Finally Possible Without Drugs? (PART I of III)

My name is Dr. Jeffrey Harris and I’m the Director of The Migraine Headache Relief Center of PA. I’d like to speak with you today about the shortcomings of medications and tell you about an alternative approach that millions of people wish they knew about.

It’s something that could change your life if you suffer with debilitating headache or migraine pain.

Millions of people who suffer from chronic headaches and migraines in the U.S. are looking for drugs to help with the pain and coming up empty. There is an explanation for this, and for why the “medication approach” to headache and migraine pain is riddled with problems.

The ``Medication Approach`` Explained

The chain of headache and migraine pain often begins with drugs, but it never seems to end with them. Contemporary treatments for headaches and migraines usually first involve over-the-counter solutions. If those don’t work then a physician may prescribe (based on individual diagnosis and symptomatic response) any of a variety of painkillers, ergotamines, triptans, antinausea medications, muscle relaxers, or even opioids. If you are a migraineur, you may already be familiar with some or all of these. However, what most individuals do not understand about the medication approach is how and where these drugs are designed to work. To understand THIS is to understand why medications fail and have little hope of ever producing long-term pain relief.

All medications today that are used to treat headaches and migraines work in the brain, which is where the painful episode is occurring. However, the command center (or control center) that tells the brain whether the trigger that is occurring should CAUSE a headache or migraine is the trigeminal brainstem nucleus, located in the nape of the neck. So, let’s put this knowledge into perspective:

All of today’s pharmacologic agents are working where the pain is occurring, but NOT where the headache or migraine can be effectively modulated and controlled. THIS is the fundamental reason why many patients do not get relief from medications. If any relief is experienced, it is only temporary. The chain of pain continues with no relief in sight because drugs cannot treat the root causes for headaches and migraines. They simply do not function that way.

If drugs can't fix me, then WHAT WILL??

There has to be a better way, and now there IS a better way for most people who suffer with debilitating headache and migraine pain. While we do know more about pharmacology than ever before, perhaps the most important headache and migraine treatment advances are happening in other areas.

For example, we now understand that there exists a direct, causal link between headache and migraine conditions and various neuromuscular force problems of the head, neck, face, teeth, and jaws. Headaches and migraines stemming from neuromuscular problems aren’t treatable with medications. However, there are treatment approaches that get you long-term results with no medication at all.

Neuromuscular rehabilitation has proven to be highly effective in the vast majority of persistent headache and migraine cases. While it is not yet widespread, there is every reason to believe that neuromuscular rehabilitation protocols will set a new standard for long-term headache and migraine pain treatment in the future. Even so, there is a reason to be excited right now in the present day. The neuromuscular rehabilitation treatment protocols for headache and migraine pain already exist – this kind of treatment is already available.

In part two of this blog article, which I will publish in a few days, I will discuss the deeper implications of the “medication approach”, where it is rooted, why things haven’t changed yet, and what YOU can do to find long-term resolution to chronic headache and migraine pain right now.