﻿Will Oxygen Therapy Stop a Migraine? | Everyday Health

Will Oxygen Therapy Stop a Migraine?

Q1. I've read that breathing from an oxygen tank at the onset of a migraine reverses its effects for immediate relief. Should I be asking my neurologist for oxygen?

Oxygen inhalation 100 percent oxygen at high flow rate (7-10 liters per minute) may be an effective acute therapy to relieve a migraine if used at the onset of a migraine attack. In general, however, oxygen inhalation is not effective once the migraine has already set in (in other words, as “abortive” therapy).

High-flow oxygen inhalation is more effective for the acute treatment of cluster headaches. Since cluster headaches usually strike at night, patients can keep a portable oxygen tank in their bedroom. Generally speaking, migraine attacks are less likely to occur at nighttime, which makes oxygen inhalation less practical because of the cumbersome tank.

You should ask your neurologist for his/her own experience prescribing oxygen as an acute therapy.

Q2. In my five-year search for a cure to my migraines, I was told by an array of doctors in different specialties almost in the same words, "We don't know why migraines happen. Take ibuprofen. "My symptoms were pain in the temples or behind the eyes, blurred vision, nausea, dizziness, sometimes tunnel vision, and sensitivity to light and sound. I came across a book on myofascial therapy. I've come across at least a dozen people whose migraines I have also cured with these massage techniques while their doctors were medicating them to little or no effect. The study I read suggested that more than 80 percent of pain has a myofascial element, and I've had great success with home treatment using these simple massage techniques. If this has been documented for 30 years, why is it not a significant part of the migraine discussion?

First, let me explain for other readers what this term means. Myofascial therapy is a type of physical therapy that uses touch to stretch the muscles and the fascia (thin tissue covering the muscles). Myofascial therapy, as well as massage and trigger point therapy (applying pressure to certain affected areas), may benefit patients with chronic tension-type headaches or chronic migraine headaches. The benefit may last up to one month. However, there are no large, well-controlled studies that show a high success rate, particularly 80 percent as you mention.

In my clinical experience, most patients who frequently suffer from chronic episodic migraine or tension headaches don’t get any sustained benefit from such therapies. Also, sometimes proponents of a particular treatment method make unsubstantiated or inaccurate statistical claims about superiority, especially if they have a vested self-interest in that treatment method.

However, when people find that they do benefit from massage therapy, myofascial therapy or trigger point therapy, then I recommend that they continue with it.

Learn more in the Everyday Health Headache and Migraine Center.