WHO has designated September as The World Headache Month. According to the International Headache Society, globally about 8-10 percent of men, 15-18 percent of women, 4-6 percent of children suffer from headache disorders.
Headaches are an increasing modern day, often debilitating, medical issue mostly afflicting the white collar office-going people with sedentary lifestyles in the urban areas.
Headaches broadly fall into two classes-primary (with definite causative factors) and secondary (resulting from other illnesses or disorders). The types of primary headaches are Sinus headaches-where the pains are felt on the face and on the forehead, Cluster headaches-pain felt around one eye and Migraine headaches- pains accompanied with nausea and visual disturbances. Causes for secondary headaches include tumors, blood vessel disorders etc.
Some common causative factors for primary headaches are easily identifiable. They are loss or inadequate sleep, delayed meals or fasting, watching TV’s or working on computers for a long time, specific foods like milk, chocolates, exposure to strong lights, alcohol, stress, hormonal changes etc. The commonest of the primary headaches is called the Tension headaches caused by tightening or clenching of the muscles.
Homeopathy has been very successful in approaching this problem and dealing with it.
As in any other issue the totality of the “headache symptom picture” is first obtained. The causation is first ascertained. Beside the few causes mentioned above, other causes maybe -exposure to cold air, taking a warm shower, headaches alternating with back pains, piles, asthmas, severe emotional distresses like anger, depression, sadness, headaches occurring before, during or after the regular menstrual cycles or occurring in place of menstrual cycles, headaches occurring because of combing the hair, cutting the hair, from head injuries, etc.
The first piece of information that the Homeo physician tries to ascertain is if there are any causative factors.
If there are no clear causative factors, the physician then tries to find out the location of the headaches- is it one sided or does it occur predominantly in the left or right side of the head, top of the head, back of the head, forehead, or does it alternate sides. This is the second piece of the puzzle.
The third piece of information which will go in deciding the prescription is the sensation, i.e., type of headache. Is the nature of pain pressing, burning, bursting, hammering, cramping, stitching etc.?
The last piece of information that every Homeopath tries to elicit are the factors that either bring down the intensity or increase the intensity of the headaches. Are the headaches better or worse by bending the head, washing the head with cold or warm water, drinking warm fluids, vomiting, lying down in a dark room, applying warm poultices etc.
Along with the above pieces of information, many patients end up giving information about the accompanying i.e. concomitant, symptoms along with the headache- gastric disturbances, mental disturbances, seasons when the incidence of headaches are more, particular kinds of dreams that they experience when they are having bouts of headaches, the patterns of the headaches that occur periodically, peculiar, sleeping postures that are noticed by family members when they have the headaches, peculiarities in behaviors during the bouts, extension of the pain from one part to any other etc.
Homeopathy has been very successful in curing headaches primarily because of the definite features that many with headaches exhibit, either in terms of location, sensation, causation or modalities. The information needed to start the first prescription is usually elicited in the first sitting itself.
Most patients, if they have no prior experience with Homeopathy, are amazed at the kind of inquiry that they are subjected to in the initial case taking process. This in itself will make them aware about what they should be watching, if it is not apparent or obvious, about the modalities for their headaches.
Case Study:
A lady, about 25 yrs. of age, a receptionist in a software firm, approached us for help for her periodic headaches that occurred every month, just before the beginning of her periods, lasted the entire time she has her periods and then subsided the day her periods were finished. She began to have the headaches right from the time she had her periods for the first time. Her periods were regularly.
The pains were mostly in her temples, the nature of the pain was that they were hammering and reached their acme at noon and were slightly better during the beginning of the day and towards the later part of the day. She complained of nausea especially during the afternoons when she had the headache. She always felt better with a hot cup of tea for a little while. She said she was not able to bear strong light and wanted to lie down in a dark room to relieve the pain. She did not complain of any gastric distress and her appetite and bowel movement were normal.
Discussion:
A casual perusal of the case above will reveal the information needed for a homeopathic prescription. The causation, location, sensation, modalities and accompanying symptoms are clearly evident.
We prescribed a Homeopathic remedy in a low potency for about 2 weeks prior to her periods and asked her to report. For the first time her headaches in many years were less intense during her periods. She said she felt better.
We increased her potency (strength of the medicine) for the second time and she felt absolutely fine from the 3rd month on.
She still continues to see us for her seasonal allergies but her headaches are now a thing of the past.
The above case indicates how Homeopathic case taking actually gives us more information that is peculiar to the patient and homeopathic medicines that are specific to that particular “headache” so to speak!