How to Stop Headaches Using Science-Based Approaches

**Andrew D. Huberman** (0:00)
welcome to the Huberman Lab podcast, where we discuss science and science-based tools for everyday life.
I'm Andrew Huberman, and I'm a professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine. Today, we are discussing headaches. Headaches are something that everybody will suffer at some point in their lifetime. Of course, some people suffer from headaches far more often than others. And for many people, headaches can be incredibly debilitating, limiting their ability to work, to socialize, to sleep, to exercise, essentially to live life in any kind of normal way. As we'll soon discuss, there are many different kinds of headache. We have migraine headaches, tension headaches, cluster headaches. Today, we'll review all the different types of headaches and what the underlying biology of each and every one of those types of headaches is, as well as fortunately, the many excellent treatments that exist for the different types of headache. In fact, what we'll soon discuss is that by understanding which type of headache you have and a little bit about the underlying biology of each different type of headache, it becomes quite straightforward to select the best treatment options for you to, for instance, provide relief from frequent and recurring tension headaches, cluster headaches, even sinus headaches, the sorts of headaches that are associated with sinus infections and colds where the sinuses get clogged up and you experience headache. So while today's episode focuses on all aspects and types of headaches, it will have tremendous relevance for everybody. So for those of you that experience headache every once in a while, or only when you're sick or have a sinus headache, or for those of you that suffer from debilitating migraines, today's conversation actually has a bit of optimism woven into it, meaning there are excellent treatments for each and every one of the different types of headaches. And I was quite impressed and excited to learn when researching this episode that the treatments for headache range from, of course, prescription drug treatments and over-the-counter medications of the sort of type that most of us have heard about, ibuprofen, acetaminophen and so forth, so-called anti-inflammatory drugs. But it turns out there are many natural treatments for headaches that when compared to those over-the-counter drugs and even some prescription drugs appear to be easily as effective and in many cases more effective than the typical drug treatments, many of which can carry side effects. That is the drug treatments carry side effects, whereas the natural treatments appear to not carry side effects. Now, of course, anytime we have a discussion about natural treatments, there are likely to be some eye rolls out there and people thinking, oh, you know, this is going to be a bunch of woo science. Well, far from it, as you'll soon learn today, each and every one of the treatments for each and every one of the different kinds of headaches is grounded in solid biological understanding of why that particular treatment ought to work and does work. So for instance, you'll learn that some headache arises because of muscular pain. Other headache arises because of excessive vasodilation. The arteries and blood vessels get bigger and wider. And so there's a pressure and a swelling within the cranium that people experience as a headache. And it turns out that many of the more natural treatments out there can address either the muscular pain issue or the vasodilation issue or other issues and underlying mechanisms for headache. So again, while headaches are very intrusive, irritating and in some cases debilitating, there is certainly light at the end of this tunnel. Meaning by the end of today's episode, each and every one of you will have an array of excellent treatment options that you can choose from in order to address and provide relief from any of the different types of headache. Before we begin, I'd like to emphasize that this podcast is separate from my teaching and research roles at Stanford. It is however, part of my desire and effort to bring zero cost to consumer information about science and science related tools to the general public. In keeping with that theme, I'd like to thank the sponsors of today's podcast. Our first sponsor is Thesis. Thesis makes custom nootropics. And as many of you know, I'm not a fan of the word nootropics because nootropics means smart drugs. And as a neuroscientist, I can tell you, there is no neural circuit in the brain for being smart. Thesis understands this and has designed different nootropics in order to bring your brain into specific states for specific types of work. So for instance, for creative work or to engage with more focus or to give you more energy for cognitive or physical work. So with Thesis, they'll design custom nootropics for you that will allow you more focus, better task switching, more creativity and so on. And they'll be sure to include only the ingredients that you want and not the ingredients that you don't. I've been using Thesis for more than a year now, and I can confidently say that their nootropics have been a total game-changer for me. I like the clarity formula prior to long bouts of cognitive work or the energy formula prior to physical workouts. If you'd like to try your own personalized nootropic starter kit, go online to takethesis.com/huberman.