How to Relieve Migraines Without Medication

If you live with migraine headaches, medication can feel life-changing, especially at first. With a pill, you might be able to find lasting relief from your splitting head pain. 

The problem — as with most medications — comes from the side effects. Migraine medications can make you feel shaky and nervous or nauseous. They can interrupt your sleep and cause stomach pain. Worse yet, taking too much can actually cause more migraines, a condition experts call medication overuse headaches.

Ultimately, you might not want to rely on medication to ease your head pain. And that’s where we come in. 

As a specialist in headaches who offers targeted treatments for migraines like Botox®, Dr. Halina Snowball is here to partner with you to find what brings you relief. From our Integrated Pain Solutions office in Stamford, Connecticut, Dr. Snowball tailors a care plan to you. And whenever possible, that doesn’t include medication.

Let’s take a closer look at some medication-free ways you may be able to find migraine relief. 

Migraine therapy

Dr. Snowball takes a holistic approach to managing your migraines. Her goal isn’t just to spot-treat your symptoms. Instead, she works with you to build a lifestyle that helps prevent migraines and lessen the severity of any you do get. 

Dr. Snowball personalizes your migraine therapy plan to you, but it might include:

• Nutrition counseling
• Breathing exercises
• Meditation
• Acupuncture
• Therapeutic massage
• Counseling

With wraparound care like this, many patients find lasting migraine relief — without the need to take medication.

That said, if you continue suffering from migraines, Dr. Snowball can add Botox treatment to your migraine therapy plan. 

Botox for migraines 

Dr. Snowball generally recommends Botox injections for people who get 15 or more migraines each month that last four hours or more. Botox is FDA-cleared for treating chronic migraine headaches. 

This treatment works because the Botox blocks the pain transmission chemicals from key nerve endings. This helps prevent the pain networks that cause your migraines from activating. As a result, many patients who get Botox treatment report a 50% reduction in the number of headache days they experience. 

Dr. Snowball repeats this treatment every 12 weeks to keep your migraines at bay. Each appointment usually takes about 20 minutes as Dr. Snowball injects the Botox into specific locations to block pain signals. The most common side effect is a sore neck, but any soreness you experience should fade quickly. 

If you’re ready to explore an alternative to relying on medication to soothe your migraines, don’t hesitate to talk to Dr. Snowball. To get started with your personalized migraine therapy plan, call our office at 203-293-0549 or request an appointment online today.