The Pain of Migraine

Do you ever feel an intense throbbing pain in your head coupled with sweating, vomiting or blurred visions? Or are you often light headed, feeling tired and sensitive to light and sound? These are just a few of the possible symptoms of a migraine headache.

Migraine, a throbbing and pulsating headache that is often one-sided, is a condition that causes suffering for more than 25.9 million Americans and is occurring three times more in women than in men between ages 15 to 55 years. Some people who are about to experience migraine see flashing lights and patterns of lines in their vision called “warning aura”.

There are many types of migraines, but the most common ones are related with the presence of warning auras. Migraine with aura is called classic migraine, which involves the symptoms of warning aura that may last for 15 to 30 minutes that occurs before or after the head pain. A person with classic migraine changes the way a person sees, and may cause temporary vision loss, or the side vision. Trouble in communication, muscle weakness, depression, and restlessness are also signs of a classic migraine. Migraine without aura on the other hand is called common migraine which may start slower, but lasts longer than classic migraines. While common migraine occurs on only one side of the head, classic migraine may happen on both sides.

Cause of migraine is unknown, but one major factor of migraine is a change in a person’s body or the environment. Family history of the disorder may also be a factor, that sufferers may inherit sensitivities that trigger blood vessel inflammation and on the nerves on the brain and scalp causing the pain. Migraine triggers may include changes in weather and altitude, stress and depression, intense physical activity, smoking, lack of sleep, fasting and menstrual disorders for women as well as certain foods such as alcohol, caffeine, processed meat, and many more.

All-Natural Tips for Migraine Prevention

Treatment for common migraine is quite easy.  While some have been heavily dependent on the use of prescribed and non-prescribed medicines and pain relievers as soon as symptoms are felt, there are natural ways to deal with the condition. However, prevention is always better than cure, and all-natural prevention tips the more.

• Drink a LOT of Water

  As much as we thought that we have known all there is to know about water, we’re not quite right. Water is one of the most important elements for survival and medical specialists report that the lack of water has been a cause of chronic diseases in the human body. According to doctors, 90% of headache, including migraine, is caused by dehydration. Findings published in the European Journal of Neurology also suggest dehydration as a factor in headache attack, which may leave sufferers debilitated for days. This just simply means that the more water a person consumes each day, from sipping a glass of water, tea or juice, means lesser chances of experiencing headache and migraine. Sources of caffeine like coffee and soft drinks must be avoided to steer clear of dehydration.

• Get Enough Sleep

  One of the factors that could possibly set off migraine is sleep deprivation, and to equal it out, one of the ways to prevent migraine is to get enough sleep. Sleep is known to be a reliever for any kind of pain and condition as it is vital for metabolism, weight loss, stress relief, and hormone balance. One of the most dangerous causes of migraine is sleep deprivation as it is unavoidable and difficult to identify.

• Do Aerobic Exercises

  As intense physical activity triggers the occurrence of migraine, performing aerobic exercises may just help in preventing migraines and headaches by supporting cardiovascular health, boosting endorphins that are associated with reduced pain and lowering levels of stress. Nabih Ramadan, a neurologist, says that headaches from exercise are rare and that other types of headaches could be easily lightened by gentle exercise. He suggests avoiding high-impact, high-intensity exercise that could worsen headaches, but instead perform gentle aerobic exercise each morning. A study published in Cephalagia also suggests moderate aerobic exercise to reduce intensity, frequency and duration of migraine without aura as exercise boosts endorphin levels that help in reducing pain.

• Avoid Food Triggers

  Not only changes in the environment could trigger migraine, but certain foods as well. As much as some of them could help in relieving the case, some of them contribute in setting it off. Foods that contain certain kinds of chemicals can actually trigger a migraine attack – such as foods that contain tyramine, fainylaithylamini, tyrosine, caffeine, aspartine, and glutamic mononatrio. Food migraine triggers include chocolate, high fructose corn syrup, sugar, seafood, citrus, cheese, spirits and coffee. Foods that cause undiagnosed allergies may also trigger migraine like eggs, peanuts and wheat flour. Others include nightshade vegetables like tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and potatoes. Keeping a food diary and recording what you eat will help in detecting what may have caused the migraine. Restricting suspected foods for a week or a month is suggested to see difference in the frequency of the headache.

• Know Your Medication’s Side Effects

  For some people, the first step in relieving any kind of pain is by taking medications despite not knowing the side effects that it might bring. Headaches often occur in tandem with conditions such as asthma, chronic fatigue syndrome and depression which are often treated by medication with side effects that include headache.  Medications for birth control, blood pressure and diet pills are also suspects and most of all, it’s been discovered that taking barbiturates or opioids for migraine pain may not actually relieve the pain, but result to chronic migraines.

• Supplement on Fish Oil and CoEnzyme Q10

  Non-prescription remedies may also be supplemented to help in reducing incidences of migraines like fish oil and CoEnzyme Q10 because of their antihistamine and anti-inflammatory properties. The popular nutritional supplement fish oil or omega-3 fatty acids acts against inflammation may help reduce migraine. A 2002 study reported in the Journal of Adolescent Health found that fish oil supplementation lead to lower duration, frequency and severity of migraines. CoEnzyme Q10, a useful anti-heart failure supplement, is involved in mitochondrial electron transport. A reduced migraine frequency of about a third in a study was observed in a dose of 100 mg three times a day, however, it may take three months before the person gets the benefits.

  These are just some tips in relieving yourself from headache. Although these tips may not completely eradicate the pain, it would surely be a great help in preventing headaches and freeing yourself from the trouble of halting your productive day due to migraine.

Sources
headaches.org
healthcommunities.com
familydoctor.org
dailymail.co.uk
migraineheadachesaid.com
livestrong.com
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james-cooper.suite101.com