Rebound headache: What is the best strategy?

A Danish trial could settle decades of debate, the authors say
Clare Pain
Woman in her 40s with headache

A study comparing three treatment strategies for medication overuse headache shows that all are effective, but one — preventive therapy plus withdrawal of the overused drug — has the edge.

Danish researchers randomly allocated 102 people with medication overuse headache to one of three strategies: use of a preventive plus complete withdrawal of the over-used medication for two months with limited use allowed thereafter; a preventive medication alone; or withdrawal for two months (with limited use thereafter).