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.

Should I keep my appointment if I have a migraine that day?

Call the clinic on +91 81229 39197 and move it. Therapy is planned for headache-free days; lying back for Nasyam or under a dhara in the middle of an attack, with nausea and light sensitivity, is neither comfortable nor useful. Take your usual attack medicine and rest.

My migraines come around my period. Is that treated differently?

Yes. Menstrual migraine is tied to the hormonal drop before bleeding, so the doctor treats the cycle as part of the migraine and may time therapy and internal medicines to the days before your period. With women’s health as her clinical focus, Dr.V.Vaitheeshwari B.A.M.S., will also ask about heavy or painful periods, which sometimes come with it.

Do I need a brain scan before starting?

Not usually. A migraine that follows a long-standing, familiar pattern rarely needs imaging. A scan is needed when the pattern changes, when headaches begin after 50, or when they wake you from sleep or come with weakness, numbness or confusion, and the doctor will refer you if any of these apply.

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 doctor-led Ayurveda hospital at Nookampalayam, Perumbakkam, Chennai 600131 — reachable from Sholinganallur, Medavakkam, OMR, Velachery, Pallikaranai and Tambaram. Open every day, 10 AM to 8 PM.

This page is for you if your headaches have a pattern you can recognise: one-sided, throbbing, with nausea or sensitivity to light, sometimes with warning signs before they arrive. It is for people whose migraines have become more frequent, who are taking painkillers more often than they would like, or whose headaches follow the menstrual cycle. It is also for anyone who wants to know what Ayurveda can add beside a neurologist’s plan.

Understanding migraine in Ayurveda

The classical texts describe a number of head disorders, and several are headaches with recognisable patterns. Besides Ardhavabhedaka, the one-sided headache, there is Suryavarta, a headache that builds as the sun rises and eases towards evening, which people with heat-triggered migraine often recognise.

Migraine is usually read as Vata and Pitta disturbed together. Vata brings the irregularity, with attacks after a missed meal, a late night or travel, and the throbbing quality; Pitta brings the heat, the light sensitivity, the nausea and the link with sun, anger and fasting. Which one leads decides whether the plan leans towards warm oil and steadiness or towards cooling.

The texts also place the root of many head complaints in the gut, and many people notice their attacks follow constipation, acidity or a heavy, late meal. That is why digestion is looked at as closely as the head.

How we assess migraine

The consultation goes through the life of a typical attack: what comes first, how long it lasts, what you take and how quickly it works, and how you feel the day after. It also asks how many days a month you have a headache and on how many you take something for it, because those two numbers shape the plan more than any single attack.

Pulse, tongue, constitution, digestion, sleep and blood pressure are checked. Women are asked about the cycle, contraception and pregnancy plans, which matter both for the pattern of attacks and for which therapies are suitable.

A headache diary for the last four to eight weeks if you can: dates, how long, how bad, and what you took
Every medicine you use for headaches, including over-the-counter painkillers
Any reports from a neurologist, and CT or MRI scans if you have had them
The date of your last eye test
For women, the dates of your last few periods

Treatments we may plan

Shirodhara is planned for the frequency of attacks and the tension and poor sleep that often run with them, using an oil such as Brahmi Dhara Taila, prescribed after consultation. Nasyam, medicated oil given through the nose, runs as a defined course and is the classical mainstay for disorders of the head.

Thalapothichil, a cooling paste over the scalp, and Ksheera Dhara with medicated milk are used where heat, light sensitivity and irritability lead. Shiro Pichu, a warm oil-soaked pad held on the crown, is a quieter option for people who find a full dhara too much, or a step after the main course.

Internal medicines are prescribed after consultation, some aimed at digestion and regular bowels and others at the Vata and Pitta picture. The mix differs between a woman whose attacks come with her period, a student whose attacks follow exams and late nights, and someone whose attacks follow time in the sun.

What a typical course looks like

A course is usually 7 to 14 sessions, with Nasyam as a defined 7-day block within it, often on consecutive mornings since it is given on an empty or light stomach. Shirodhara and the other head therapies are fitted around it.

Migraine is judged over months, not days, so your headache diary is the main tool at review. The doctor compares headache days and painkiller days before and after the course, and plans any repeat Nasyam or maintenance sessions from that rather than by a fixed calendar.

Working alongside your neurologist

Many people with migraine take a pain reliever or a triptan for attacks, and some take a daily preventive such as propranolol, amitriptyline, flunarizine or topiramate. Continue all of them; we never ask you to stop medication prescribed by another doctor, and some preventives, propranolol in particular, should not be stopped suddenly.

Simple painkillers taken on 15 or more days a month, or triptans and combination tablets on 10 or more, can themselves keep headaches going, and neurologists treat that as a problem of its own. If your diary shows this, the doctor will raise it, and any reduction is planned with your neurologist. If you have migraine with aura and take the combined contraceptive pill, tell your gynaecologist, because that combination raises the risk of stroke.

Diet and lifestyle guidance

Triggers vary, and the diary is how yours are found rather than guessed. These habits address the commonest ones.

Never skip breakfast, and do not let the gap between meals stretch past four or five hours
Drink water steadily through the day, and more in the Chennai summer
Keep caffeine to the same amount each day, since a sudden drop at weekends can set off an attack
Go to bed and wake at the same times at weekends as on weekdays
Wear sunglasses and a cap in strong sun, and avoid long spells in the midday heat
Take a short break from screens every hour, and match screen brightness to the room
Cut out a food only if your diary shows it repeatedly comes before an attack

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.
Should I keep my appointment if I have a migraine that day?: Call the clinic on +91 81229 39197 and move it. Therapy is planned for headache-free days; lying back for Nasyam or under a dhara in the middle of an attack, with nausea and light sensitivity, is neither comfortable nor useful. Take your usual attack medicine and rest.
My migraines come around my period. Is that treated differently?: Yes. Menstrual migraine is tied to the hormonal drop before bleeding, so the doctor treats the cycle as part of the migraine and may time therapy and internal medicines to the days before your period. With women’s health as her clinical focus, Dr.V.Vaitheeshwari B.A.M.S., will also ask about heavy or painful periods, which sometimes come with it.
Do I need a brain scan before starting?: Not usually. A migraine that follows a long-standing, familiar pattern rarely needs imaging. A scan is needed when the pattern changes, when headaches begin after 50, or when they wake you from sleep or come with weakness, numbness or confusion, and the doctor will refer you if any of these apply.

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