Customer Reviews

The Keeler Migraine Method: A Groundbreaking, Individualized Treatment Program from theRenownedHeadache Clinic

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is really a remarkable book. I've suffered from chronic daily headaches for ten years, and have read quite a few headache books and have tried many approaches to dealing with headaches. This book is the most practical, useful book I've read. Perhaps the fact that the author (the doctor who runs the Keeler Migraine Center) suffers from headaches himself give him particular insight.

The theme of the book is how to live with headaches. It's up-front: there is no magic cure for headaches. However, there are strategies to minimize the impact of the headache. The approach is three-pronged: lifestyle changes, preventive medication, and rescue medication.

Any headache sufferer should read this book. Even if you think you've done it all, read it all, tried it all, you will get something from this book.

This book is great! As a current patient of Dr. Cowan's, I didn't think there would be much new information. While the book reinforced the treatment plans we work on together, there was so much more. I have had near constant migraines for 5 years. Since becoming his patient, I have had a reduction in them. The book had so much advice for me to supplement my treatment with. I have personally implemented almost all the advice in this book. It has definetly helped me. I would highly recommend it. If you can make the drive to visit him in Ojai, you will be glad you did. Good luck to all the other migraine sufferers!

While I have found this book to be helpful as a newcomer to migraines, I have found it extraordinarily redundant. I am 60% complete (reading it on the kindle) and and continuing to read it looking for new nuggets but so much of the information is repetitive.

In this instance I wish I had bought a physical copy of the book so that I could have flipped through the book as a reference book. The information on medicines, coming up with a multi-level plan and working with my doctor to lay out a treatment plan have been helpful but the author has told me this story no less than a dozen times and hasn't even masked each telling. The story is the same, the chapter numbers just increase. I've found it really annoying and I guess that the author is just trying to drive up the total page numbers? I'd still recommend the book as containing valuable content - but I thought someone should add a balance to the ratings.

Although I don't necessarily agree with Dr. Cowan that virtually all headaches are migraine, his methods and clinic have helped me quite a bit. After reading the book and going to his clinic, I have worked out a treatment plan that has improved my quality of life considerably (I have cluster headaches that are becoming more severe with age). The advice in the book is more sound than what I've seen in most other books and the folks at the clinic are highly professional while still being open to alternative medicine and various approaches. I recommend this book to anyone with chronic headaches.

I've had daily headaches and frequent migraines for the last five years. I've seen a number of healthcare practitioners both mainstream and alternative -- including neurologists who "specialize in head and face pain." No one has ever explained to me what I learned in this book. I found the book full of practical information (some I've figured out for myself; some -- like how to best use/combine medication -- was new) and comforting because this guy "gets it"!

As Dr. Cowan points out, our medical system isn't set up for people with chronic, complex, and very individual health issues. Too often I meet with a doctor and end up very frustrated because he or she diagnoses medication after about three minutes of conversation -- and preventative medication is all they're willing to discuss. The Keeler approach looks at the bigger picture and invites the reader to know and "value" his or her triggers for better headache management. Drugs are important but are part of a larger array of lifestyle changes a person should consider, depending on his or her triggers.

If you have headaches that are not as well managed as you would like, The Keeler Migraine Method is an outstanding resource.

I have been dealing with migraine headaches for approximately 12 years now. During that time, I have worked with my primary care physician and two different neurologists; I have also tried at least ten different medications. Over the course of my treatment, I have also extensively researched migraines on my own, both by reviewing information online (through web sites and messages boards) and by reading various books (including What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About(TM): Migraines: The Breakthrough Program That Can Help End Your Pain (What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About...) and Yoga Therapy for Headache Relief). Still, those who have suffered from migraines know that even the best treatments for this disease are imperfect, and so I was hoping to gain some new insights from this book.

The author, Robert Cowan, is a neurologist specializing in the treatment of headache and the founding director of the Keeler Migraine Center in California. Dr. Cowan is also a migraine sufferer himself, which lends a unique perspective to his work. The method that he uses at the Keeler Center and which he describes in this book is a three-part approach to migraine treatment: lifestyle, prevention, and rescue. Cowan stresses that all three of these components are necessary for the most effective approach to migraine treatment. In the first part of the book, he helps readers to better understand the factors behind what produces a headache (in easy-to-understand language), as well as the specific triggers which might produce a headache in a given individual. I found the latter especially helpful, as Cowan discusses the concept of "partial triggers" and explains why some triggers might not result in a migraine every time they are present.

Part 2 delves more deeply into the particulars of the Keeler Treatment Method. For both the prevention and rescue options, Cowan provides detailed breakdowns of all of the medications which are available to treat migraine, and he reviews non-medical intervention options as well. The third and final section of the book offers a more in-depth discussion of many common triggers, including eating, exercise, sleep, hormones, work, stress, social events, and more. Finally, in the three Appendices as well as throughout the book, Cowan provides numerous questionnaires/worksheets which the reader can use to assist in the assessment of his/her condition.

This book is certainly well-written, and it contains a wealth of information. However, I disagree with the assertion of the subtitle that the content is "groundbreaking"; rather, I did not learn anything earth-shattering through this book that I hadn't already discovered through my own research. However, I did find that Dr. Cowan helped to clarify my thinking in a few areas for which the available information can be particularly confusing, including migraine triggers and migraine medications. (Although regarding the later, I didn't always agree with Cowan's points; he described a medication that I am currently using without problems as being in a class of "very dangerous drugs," which seemed unnecessarily alarmist.)

I would not hesitate to recommend this book to someone who is new to the treatment of migraine and is looking for a comprehensive overview of treatment approaches. For those suffering from migraine who are already well-versed in their own care, however, this book may not have much more to offer.

This book is great. Written by someone that has experienced migraines himself, he gets it. I keep referring back to this book. One of his methods has actually changed my life.

I have several books on Migraine, this is the best. Dr. Cowan delivers the state of the are information in a clear and enjoyable fashion. Thank you, thank you Dr. Cowan.

This book was recommended by my neurologist. It is the best information on migraines I have ever read. Well worth the investment of a small amount of money and my time.

The author, a migraine sufferer and director of an innovative headache clinic in California, provides lay readers and medical professionals with a wealth of information on all aspects of the etiology and treatment of this condition.
The author and presumably his editor have stuck to the standard form and language of self-help paperbacks. It is to Dr. Cowan's credit that he has been able to smuggle in bits of impertinent information along with the pertinent: "I remember a college girlfriend accusing me..."