An alarming number of Australians treating migraines with over-the-counter and prescription pain relievers are at risk of inducing 'rebound headaches' caused by medication overuse, experts said. Research published today by the Medical Journal of Australia (MJA) also found therapy that could prevent migraines was significantly under-utilised, especially in patients with frequent migraines.

Common migraine prescription drugs acute analgesic medications such as codeine and morphine, can increase the possibility of having rebound (or medication overuse) headaches. These headaches occurs when the body becomes acclimatized to a frequently-used pain reliever and then develops a "withdrawal" effect after medications is ceased to be taken. This often triggers a new headache, prompting the patient to re-introduce the pain reliever and exacerbate a cycle of debilitating symptoms.

Diagnosis of the "rebound headaches" is very important not only to break the migraine cycle, but most importantly for the patient to have the right corrective therapy of treatment rather that unconsciously overusing the painkillers.

Medical professionals are presently taking everything into account to prevent their patients from taking unnecessary or inappropriate drugs for migraine prevention and a wide range of therapeutic options for the patients to choose from.