Conditions
Migraine
Migraine is a neurological condition, not a bad headache. It has its own mechanisms and its own management, and it deserves to be treated as its own problem rather than filed under pain.
What I look for
Patterns first: timing, relationship to sleep, hormonal cycle, meals and stress, and what the prodrome looks like. Migraine diaries are tedious and genuinely informative.
Then the modifiable contributors that turn up repeatedly: blood glucose swings, magnesium status, sleep disorder, hormonal fluctuation, dehydration, and in some people specific food triggers, though these are over-attributed as often as they are missed.
Working with neurology
If you have frequent or severe migraine you should be under neurological care, and newer preventive treatments have made a real difference for many people. This is not an alternative to that.
What I add is the metabolic, nutritional and hormonal picture around it, which conventional consultations rarely have time to explore.
Common questions
When does a headache need urgent assessment?
Sudden severe onset, headache with fever or neck stiffness, new headache after 50, headache with neurological signs, or a marked change in your usual pattern. Those need urgent medical assessment, not a functional medicine consultation.
Related
Discuss your case with Dr Greenland
A short discovery call is the usual starting point. It costs nothing, and it is the fastest way to find out whether this approach fits your situation.