Ginger improves emergency room treatment of migraine
Ginger is not only a popular spice, but a truly remarkable medicinal plant. Ginger’s proven anti-inflammatory properties may be responsible for its beneficial effects in migraine patients. Ginger may be effective for the treatment of seasickness, morning sickness of pregnancy and I recommend it for nausea of migraine as well.
This was a double-blind placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial performed in the emergency room of a general hospital in Brazil. Adults who suffered from migraines with or without aura one to six times per month were included. Half of the sixty participants were given 400 mg of ginger extract (5% active ingredient) or placebo, in addition to an intravenous drug (100 mg of ketoprofen, a drug not available in the US in an injection, but it is similar to ketorolac, or Toradol) to treat an attack of migraine. Pain severity, functional status, migraine symptoms and treatment satisfaction were recorded.
Patients treated with ginger showed significantly better pain relief after 1, 1.5 and 2 hours. Ginger also significantly improved functional status and overall satisfaction.
Another double-blind study involving 100 patients compared the efficacy of ginger with sumatriptan in the treatment of an acute migraine attack. Patient satisfaction and their willingness to continue treatment was also evaluated after 1 month following intervention. Two hours after using either drug, mean headaches severity decreased significantly. Efficacy of ginger powder and sumatriptan was similar. Adverse effects of ginger powder were less than sumatriptan. Patient satisfaction was similar in two groups.
Considering that ginger has anti-inflammatory properties, it is possible taking it daily may also prevent migraines, although no preventive trials have been conducted to date.
I tried capsules of processed ginger, Zinaxin, in the end of the 90s. Raw ginger contains blood thinning substances, which was removed from Zinaxin. I took Zinaxin for about a year and I thought it ”cleared up my blood vessels” and made it a little bit easier to cope with my migraines.
I live in Sweden, but I was told that it’s very common to recommend Zinaxin for migraines in the Netherlands.