Herbal Remedy Usage Habits of Patients Applying to the Headache Clinic

Aim: Although the widespread use of unguided herbal remedies as alternative therapies is increasingly common, it poses significant risks of adverse drug interactions and side effects. This study aimed to investigate the patterns of herbal remedy use, particularly in the management of a common health complaint, headache.Material and Methods: Following ethics approval, this cross-sectional study evaluated sociodemographics, attitudes, recommendation sources, and side-effect awareness via face-to-face surveys with 133 participants (June 2022–December 2023), recording unanswered items as missing data.Results: Among the 133 participants, 96(72.2%) were female, 26(19.5%) were male, and 11(8.3%) chose not to disclose their gender due to privacy-related concerns. Herbal remedy use was reported by 35.3%(n=47) of participants, and garlic was identified as the most frequently used herbal remedy. It was determined that 35.3%(n=47) of the participants were consuming herbal remedies and the most commonly used herbal remedy was garlic. No statistically significant relationship was found between gender and education level according to herbal remedy use (p=0.222, p=0.189, respectively). Participants stated that they mostly used herbal remedies to support the effectiveness of prescription drugs they took for headaches. It was determined that the consumers most frequently received advice from doctors regarding herbal remedy use 42.6%(n=20) and only 46.8%(n=22) were informed about the possible side effects of herbal remedies.Conclusion: Gender and education level were not significantly associated with herbal remedy use among headache clinic patients. Given limited patient awareness of potential adverse effects, healthcare providers must understand herbal pharmacokinetics and drug interactions to ensure safe treatment.