Marilyn Monroe suffered from it, as did Julius Caesar and Sigmund Freud. Today it is estimated that 10 per cent of the world's population is subject to headache attacks.

Causes and symptoms of headaches

Medicine distinguishes several forms of headache. In common migraine — that is, the most frequent form — the pain begins on just one side of the head before spreading to the whole head, and is often accompanied by nausea, forcing the person to rest in the dark.

The majority of complaints concern "secondary" headache caused by poor diet, excessive stress, or overuse of alcohol and coffee. The major exception is cluster headache, acute and sudden, with no warning signs, with concentrated and recurring attacks.

How to get rid of a headache

The painkiller is the traditional countermeasure for all these situations. In natural medicine, by contrast, headaches and migraines are treated with different remedies according to the symptoms.

Apis Mellifica

This is a remedy for episodic headache. Useful in all forms of headache that improve when walking in the open air and where the most affected area is extremely sensitive to touch.

Belladonna

Ideal for a throbbing pain, pounding like hammer blows, of great intensity. When the person seeks darkness, warmth, silence and rest, and even the movement of the eyes alone worsens the pressure around the head.

Calcarea Phosphorica

This is taken when the cause of the headache is physical and intellectual fatigue, especially in childhood and adolescence in slender individuals.

Nux vomica

To be used for secondary headache. The kind that stems from excess alcohol, smoking, hard-to-digest food, or drugs, but also from anger, stress and irritability.

Cyclamen

For menstrual cycle headache, which affects many women and is often the only painful signal announcing menstruation. It can also be used preventively in the days leading up to the period.

Iris versicolor

This is the classic ophthalmic headache that begins after a minor ocular symptom, such as a drop in vision or a zigzag visual pattern. Also very useful for weekend headache, in which case it is advisable to start using the remedy as early as Friday.

Sanguinaria

A remedy for intense headache that worsens until the patient vomits food or bile, and tends to resolve after the peak. During the attack it is necessary to lie down and remain in darkness and silence. Sleep and urination relieve the symptoms.

Silicea

For individuals who frequently suffer from headaches and often feel fatigued, anxious, irritable and extremely sensitive to cold.

Glonoinum

This is homoeopathic nitroglycerin, diluted and dynamised, useful for throbbing headache that compels the sufferer to tie a band around their head or put on a hat.

Craniosacral therapy

Entrusting the demon of the head to a therapist's hands is the wisest way to overcome it. Craniosacral therapy serves to release the tissues supporting the cervical spine and relax the muscular contraction at the emergence points of the cranial nerves. The therapist's hands rest on the cranial sutures, creating a space that eases the compression.