FAQ Episode 62: Have you been to the ER with a headache?
Frequently Asked Questions about Natural Migraine Relief
In 25 years of working ER shifts, I saw a lot of patients with acute headaches which is probably why a recent study caught my attention. Published October 2024, researchers at the University Hospital of Bern, Switzerland1 noted some interesting facts about headache patients they saw in their ER:
46% of the headaches seen there were an acute migraine attack.
of the 46% diagnosed with migraine at that ER visit, only 50% had actually known before that ER visit that a migraine was the source of their headaches. This reminds us that migraine is considerably underdiagnosed in the general population.
Willian Osler, one of the founders of modern medicine, used to say that “an accurate diagnosis is half the cure.” Or at least puts you on the right road forward to finding it.
If you have chronic headaches, you owe it to yourself to get a thorough and accurate diagnosis. Start with your personal physician, and go on to a neurologist if needed. Prescription medication can be helpful. And, if you’ve read my posts at all, you know that I advise learning about your specific root cause factors for a migraine. Addressing root causes with focused non-drug therapy may be the only therapy you need. Or, it may assist any prescription drug you try to be taken in a lower dose, or to give better relief.
I urge you to use my free resources to learn more. Take a look at my FAQ Table of Contents , or go to posts like FAQ Episode 4: Migraines and co-morbid medical conditions, or FAQ Episode 33: Five things to consider before treating your migraines. Sign up below for free to get my regular postings direct to your Inbox.
If you want to dive deeper, you might like to try a month at a time yet all-you-can-eat paid subscriber trial of my online course by checking out FAQ Episode 42: What can I learn from the Natural Migraine Relief course? and review The Natural Migraine Relief for Women course: Table of Contents.
Whatever path you take in seeking headache relief, make sure that you start by getting the most specific diagnosis possible, and keep researching to find the treatment options that best fit your migraine root causes.