Will my migraines stop completely?

Many patients see attacks become less frequent and less severe over a course. Anyone guaranteeing they will stop is not being straight with you — migraine is managed rather than cured, in any system.

Your face and shoulders are massaged and steamed, then a few drops of medicated oil are instilled in each nostril while you lie back. There is a strong taste at the back of the throat for a moment. It takes about twenty minutes.

Can I keep taking my migraine tablets?

Yes. Bring them to the consultation — how often you are using them is itself clinically useful, because frequent painkiller use can drive a headache of its own.

Ayurvedic treatment for migraine and chronic headache in Chennai

A recurring one-sided headache that has its own warning signs and its own timetable.

What it looks like: One-sided throbbing pain lasting hours to days; Nausea, and needing a dark quiet room; Visual disturbance or aura beforehand; Triggered by missed meals, heat, light or the cycle; Increasing reliance on painkillers.

Classical Ayurveda describes several distinct headaches and treats them differently. The one-sided throbbing type — Ardhavabhedaka — maps closely onto migraine. A headache that sits behind the eyes and worsens on bending is read instead as a channel-blockage picture in the sinuses, which is a different problem with a different answer.

Shirodhara for the frequency and the nervous-system component; Nasyam, medicated instillation through the nose, because the classical texts treat the nasal route as the direct road to the head. Thalapothichil is added for the heat-driven presentation. Trigger identification is done properly at the consultation — for a good number of patients the pattern turns out to be meal timing or sleep debt rather than food.

Typical course: 7 to 14 sessions, and Nasyam usually as a defined 7-day course.

When to see a doctor first, not us: The worst headache of your life coming on suddenly, headache with fever and neck stiffness, headache after a head injury, or a new headache with weakness, confusion or visual loss — emergency department, immediately.

Assessed at Sri Vinayaga Ayurvibe, a government-certified Ayurveda hospital at Nookampalayam, Perumbakkam, Chennai 600131 — reachable from Sholinganallur, Medavakkam, OMR, Velachery, Pallikaranai and Tambaram. Open every day, 10 AM to 8 PM.

Common questions

Will my migraines stop completely?: Many patients see attacks become less frequent and less severe over a course. Anyone guaranteeing they will stop is not being straight with you — migraine is managed rather than cured, in any system.
What is Nasyam like?: Your face and shoulders are massaged and steamed, then a few drops of medicated oil are instilled in each nostril while you lie back. There is a strong taste at the back of the throat for a moment. It takes about twenty minutes.
Can I keep taking my migraine tablets?: Yes. Bring them to the consultation — how often you are using them is itself clinically useful, because frequent painkiller use can drive a headache of its own.

Sri Vinayaga Ayurvibe — 12/597, Main Road, Nethaji Nagar Main Rd, Nookampalayam, Perumbakkam, Chennai 600131. Phone: +91 81229 39197.