Alternative treatments for cluster headache?
A recent report investigated complementary and alternative medicine for cluster headache sufferers. Researchers went to 3 different headache clinics and interviewed 100 patients. They found that about 29% had tried some kind of alternative treatment. But was it a help?
You can see the results below. Only a small group felt that the treatment had been a help. Just over 1/3 felt that there had been some small benefit, and only 8% thought that alternative therapies had helped a lot.
The researchers of the study (called Use of complementary and alternative medicine by patients with cluster headache: results of a multi-centre headache clinic survey) weren’t very positive about the results, but I think there’s reason to hope.
Remember, cluster headache is still a very poorly studied problem. With all the alternative treatments available, we still have a long way to go before we really hone in on the best ones. A visit to any cluster related forum shows that people are trying a very wide variety of complimentary therapies.
There’s nothing wrong with that, but it does show that it will take some time to find which ones tend to work the best. If 8% are already finding a significant benefit, there’s reason to believe that number will be far higher in 10 years.
Cluster headache patients try therapies such as massage, acupuncture, herbs such as chamomile and valerian and chiropractic treatment. If you have cluster, what treatments have you tried? Have they helped?