HeadOn – Apply Directly to Forehead Migraine Relief .2 oz (5.67 g)

Review by Kathy Sardella for HeadOn – Apply Directly to Forehead Migraine Relief .2 oz (5.67 g)
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Being a Physician Assistant, I must admit, I simply laughed at the commercials. I could not believe that such a product would work. When my husband came home from work,(he is an Emergency Room Physician)he mentioned that one of the nurses who suffers from very frequent migraines had tried it and it worked! She didn’t believe in the product, but when her fiance came home with it hoping it would help her, she humored him and gave it a try (to not hurt his feelings). To her amazement, it worked! When she was at the ER and another one of the nurses had a pounding migraine, she gave it to her to try. She also had her headache disappear in only a few minutes! My husband couldn’t ignore two anecdotale case successes under his own nose, especially with all the migraines he has to treat in the ER! I decided to try it and got it from Walmart for about $4. Worth a try for such a low price. Well, the next time I had those tiny, suspicious twinges signaling the beginning of another migraine, I gave it a try. 15 mins later, the pain was gone! Ok, but will it stay gone? I waited and it didn’t come back. I tried it again the next week, and it worked again. The acid test is the week of the period. It worked for a few of the milder migraines, but the migraine would work it’s way back by night time. So I took a Triptan for that and was fine the next day. It doesn’t work if you wake up with a full-blown, pounding migraine, but it does feel good on the forhead, cool as an ice pack and is a nice adjunct with a Triptan and Narcotic.

We are advised by the medical community to take the Triptan at the first tiny twinge of a migraine where it will work 60 to 80% of the time on the first pill. Problem is, the pills cost soooooo much and you only get 6 or 9 pills depending on brand, per month. If you are having migraines sevral times a week, you can’t afford to do that and you wait until you are sure it’s a migraine before using your precious pill. This is also the least effective way to treat an acute attack. With the Head On, you can give that a try at the first sign of trouble and still be able to take a Triptan if needed. Be advised, you can ask for a second migraine prescription and fill that on your insurance in the same month. My insurance allows Zomig on their formulary (not my favorite pill) with a $30 co-pay, but I have a second prescription I fill at the same time for Imitrex 100mg tabs, $30 co-pay. This way I have 6 Zomigs and 9 Imitrex for the month.

I also stopped artificial sweeteners since the New year (2008)and noticed a dramatic decrease in the number of migraines. So try eliminating any possible triggers to at least get the number of attacks down to manageable.

If you get many migraines a week, you need to try the preventive medications. First ones are the blood pressure pills classified as Beta blockers or Calcium Channel blockers. Then, there is Topamax which is given to people with nerve pain or seizures and found to decrease the number of migraines. The side effects were too much for me, but worth a try to see if it helps you. With the preventive meds and change in diet, the hope is to decrease the number of attacks and stretch out your Triptan supply. Taking Triptans and pain killers several times a week will actually start bringing on migraine attacks due to rebound.

Would I recommend Head-on for my patients? Yes. It’s cheap, portable and you can use it as often as you want. Every 15 mins if you like. If it cuts down on the number of attacks, wonderful! And you save your pills for a full-blown attack. Naproxen (Aleve) has been shown to be a better minor pain reliever for migraines than other over the counter pain meds, so I would take two Aleve and use the Head-on Migraine stick at the first tiny sign of a migraine.