Herbal Remedies for Migraine in Lagosians: An Urban Assessment

Migraine is a prevalent condition affecting urban residents in Lagos, Nigeria, with traditional herbal remedies being used as an alternative or complementary treatment. A cross-sectional study was conducted, interviewing 120 participants who reported chronic headaches. Participants were asked about their use of traditional herbal remedies and provided with a questionnaire on efficacy and frequency of use. Among the identified remedies, Ajowan (Thymus capitatus) showed significant effectiveness in reducing migraine intensity, with 75% of respondents reporting a decrease in headache severity after using Ajowan for at least three months. This pattern was consistent across all age groups studied. Traditional herbal remedies can be effective for managing chronic headaches and migraines among urban residents in Lagos. Ajowan appears to be the most promising remedy, warranting further clinical evaluation. Future research should focus on larger sample sizes and more rigorous testing of these traditional remedies to validate their efficacy and safety. Migraine, Traditional Medicine, Herbal Remedies, Urban Population, Ajowan Treatment effect was estimated with logit(pᵢ)=β₀+β^ Xᵢ, and uncertainty reported using confidence-interval based inference.