Online Headache and Migraine Treatment
A migraine or a bad headache does not wait for an appointment. Talk to a board-certified doctor from wherever you are, in a dark room if that is what you need, and get a treatment plan without driving to a clinic.
When medication is medically appropriate, your prescription goes to your pharmacy the same day. Available 24/7 for sudden headaches, migraine attacks, and repeat prescriptions.
How to connect with a doctor online for headache and migraine
Three steps from your phone, with no appointment and no waiting room.
Describe your issue
Download our app, register and tell us about your medical issue to get started.
- Headache
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- STD
- UTI
- Skin
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Chat with a doctor
Connect with a board-certified doctor. You can chat, send pictures and videos.
Hi Dr Nicole, I have a headache and nausea. I often get migraines. Can you prescribe something?
Get a prescription
Our online doctors can help you with your medical issues and give you prescriptions.
Prescription
- Sumatriptan 50mg
Take one tablet at the start of an attack.
Send Prescription
What are the virtual treatment options for headaches and migraines?
A virtual visit can cover many common headache and migraine treatment needs, including:
- The medication you take when a headache or migraine starts relieves symptoms and prevents it from getting worse.
- Medication you take regularly to reduce how often migraines occur and how severe they are.
- Medication to relieve nausea or vomiting during a migraine.
- Guidance on common triggers such as poor sleep, skipped meals, caffeine, stress, and hormonal changes.
- Refills for headache or migraine medication you already take, when medically appropriate.
- A referral for in-person care if you need a physical exam, scan, or further evaluation.
What headache and migraine medications can we prescribe online?
Which medication a doctor prescribes depends on the type of headache you have and your medical history. Our doctors can send an online prescription for one of the following medications:
Triptans
Learn More
Triptans
Learn More Triptans
Learn More CGRP blockers
Learn More Anti-inflammatory
Learn More Anti-nausea
Learn More Beta blockers
Learn More Anticonvulsants
Learn More Antidepressants
Learn More Anticonvulsants
Learn More What are the different types of headaches?
Headaches can feel very different, and knowing the type helps a doctor choose the right treatment.
- Tension headaches: The most common type. They usually cause a dull, steady pain or pressure on both sides of the head, often feeling like a tight band.
- Migraines: These often cause throbbing pain, usually on one side of the head. You may also have nausea or become more sensitive to light and sound. Most people with migraine do not have an aura.
- Cluster headaches: These cause very severe pain, usually around or behind one eye. They often happen at about the same time each day for several weeks before stopping.
- Sinus headaches: These can cause pressure or pain around the forehead, cheeks, or face and may feel worse when you bend forward.
- Medication-overuse headaches: These can happen when pain medicines are used too often for headaches, causing headaches to become more frequent or persistent.
Because treatment depends on the type of headache you have, a doctor can review your symptoms, medical history, and headache pattern to help identify the cause and recommend the right treatment.
What causes headaches and migraines?
Headaches have different drivers depending on the type, and most of the common ones are things you can track.
- Tight muscles in the neck, shoulders, scalp and jaw, the usual driver behind a tension headache
- Stress, skipped meals, dehydration, broken sleep, alcohol and caffeine withdrawal
- Hormonal changes in women, including the days around a period
- Food and sensory triggers, such as chocolate, aged cheese, MSG, perfume, smoke, and bright or flickering light
- Screen time, linked to about 60 percent greater odds of migraine or headache
- Pain relief taken too often, which can start causing the headaches it was meant to treat
If a headache has kept you off work, a doctor can also issue a doctor’s note after the consultation.
When should you see a doctor about a headache?
Most headaches are not dangerous. A few need emergency care the same hour, and a few need a doctor the same day.
Go to the emergency room or call 911
Any of these alongside a headache needs emergency care, not an online consultation.
- A headache that comes on suddenly and explosively, or that is the worst you have ever had.
- A fever, a stiff neck, nausea and vomiting together.
- Slurred speech, a change in vision, weakness in an arm or a leg, loss of balance, confusion or memory loss.
- A headache that follows a head injury.
- Severe pain in one eye, with redness in that eye.
Book a consultation, and expect to be sent for in-person tests
These need a doctor promptly, and often a scan or blood tests to rule things out.
- Your headaches started for the first time after the age of 50.
- A headache keeps getting worse over 24 hours.
- Headaches come with vision problems, pain while chewing or weight loss.
- You have a history of cancer, or your immune system is weakened by illness or by medication such as chemotherapy or steroids.
- This is the first headache of your life and it is interfering with your day.
These are the warning signs a doctor checks for. Your Doctors Online is not an emergency service, so if anything in the first list applies to you, go to the emergency room now.
FAQs about headache and migraine
How to get rid of headaches fast?
What helps depends on the type of headache, but these measures hold up.
- Take your acute medication at the first sign of an attack rather than waiting to see if it passes.
- Rest in a quiet, dark room and put a cool cloth on your head.
- Drink water, especially if you have been vomiting.
- For a tension headache, acetaminophen, aspirin or ibuprofen taken early.
- Keep a headache diary so you and your doctor can see the pattern behind the attacks.
One caution. Taking pain relief on three or more days a week on a regular basis can turn into medication-overuse headache, so talk to a doctor if you are anywhere near that.
What are the symptoms of migraine?
The core symptom is a throbbing headache, usually on one side, that gets worse when you move around. It often comes with nausea, fatigue and sensitivity to light and sound, and an attack can last anywhere from a few hours to a few days. In migraine with aura, warning symptoms come first, such as flashing or bright lights, zig-zag lines, muscle weakness, or a feeling of being touched or grabbed.
How to get prescription for headache?
Start a consultation, describe how the pain feels and how often it happens, and answer a few questions about your medical history and the medications you already take. If treatment is medically appropriate, the doctor sends the prescription to your pharmacy the same day.
Are migraines genetic?
Partly. Migraine is a genetically influenced neurological disorder and it tends to run in families, but genes are not the whole story. Sleep, stress, hormones and your own triggers decide how often attacks come and how bad they get.
Can migraine cause fever?
No. Migraine causes throbbing pain, nausea and sensitivity to light and sound, but it does not cause a fever. A headache that comes with a fever, a stiff neck and vomiting is a different picture altogether and needs emergency care rather than an online consultation.
What is the difference between a headache and a migraine?
Migraine is a type of headache, not a separate condition. The everyday sort most people mean by a headache is a tension headache: a dull, squeezing pain on both sides, often starting at the back of the head. A migraine is throbbing rather than dull, usually sits on one side, gets worse when you move around, and tends to bring nausea or sensitivity to light and sound with it.
Can a doctor prescribe migraine medication online?
Yes. A board-certified doctor can prescribe acute migraine medication such as a triptan, daily preventive medication, and anti-nausea medication, when it is medically appropriate for your history. Opioids and butalbital combinations are not prescribed online.
Can painkillers cause headaches?
They can. Taking pain relief for headaches on more than three days a week on a regular basis can cause medication-overuse headache, also known as rebound headache. Triptans carry the same risk and are generally kept to fewer than 10 days a month. If you have got into that cycle, a doctor can help you unwind it safely.
Get Started Today
Talk to online doctors now and get medical advice, online prescriptions, and referrals within minutes. On-demand healthcare services at your fingertips.
