How to Deal with Migraines Articles | Headache

By: Darren Williger

A migraine is a whole lot more than just a simple headache. Everyone who has suffered from a migraine at one point or the other in their lives knows how terrible it can be. In the United States almost 10% or more of the entire population suffer from headaches and migraines. Migraines are usually characterized by a throbbing pain which usually occurs on one side of a person’s head. Migraines can cause a lot of other things such as nausea and certain sensitivity to light and sound too.

Symptoms of migraines may differ according to the individual being affected. These migraines and can last also anywhere from four hours up to several days. A lot of sufferers usually report a migraine attack that tends to occur in three phases which are: pre-headache, headache and the post-headache period. Both the beginning and final stages tend to last for a number of days in certain sufferers. A lot of these sufferers exhibit migraines with certain associated symptoms such as body aches, fatigue, mood swings, muscle tenderness, neck and shoulder tension.

These individuals may also experience “aura” which is characterized by light flashes which are followed by blind spots, zigzag lines and numbness in certain areas of the limbs as well as the neck and face. These most severe symptoms are usually experienced in at least 1 out of 3 of the people who suffer from migraines. Aura symptoms may last a considerably shorter period than real migraines and this period is usually up to an hour or less depending on the situation.

Different things happen during the course of a migraine but when it happens it may be due to the fact that the body releases a great amount of serotonin. This release of serotonin may cause an interaction between the trigeminal nerve and a number of blood vessels in the brain. A number of the pain processing regions in the body become overloaded and the feeling that results is a certain level of skin sensitivity on the scalp and head of an individual.

No direct reason exists for the occurrence of migraines there are different things that may also cause the start of a migraine headache. Each patient that suffers from a migraine is different from the other so are the different reasons for the migraines: diet, excessive hunger, severe weather changes such as when the air pressure suddenly dips or rises, activity, environment, emotions, medications, and hormones. Genetics and heredity also prove a factor in the predisposition of individuals to suffer from these migraines.

As soon as a patient has successfully indentified what causes their migraines they should take the necessary measures to avoid these causes. Some of these measures may include the taking of medicine to reduce the effects of the migraines.

If a patient is aware that they tend to suffer from repeat occurrences of migraines then they have a wide number of treatment options available to them.

Preventative care as a treatment method is important in reducing the number of attacks that a sufferer suffers from. A thorough study of the triggers of migraines in different people is important in order to help the patient better understand their migraines, and how they can deal with them. Medication that is taken on a daily basis is usually efficient in reducing the amount of attacks that occur as well as the severity of these attacks. Some of these techniques that reduce the severity of this attack include relaxation techniques, sleeping and eating properly as well as regular exercise. Massage therapy is also useful in the prevention of migraines as well as the ability of individuals to cope with the pain that is caused by migraines.

Another form of therapy known as Acute Therapy helps treat the symptoms after the attack has already started. Different sorts of drugs are available and they are all able to treat attacks of different relative strengths. Other forms of therapy such as massage, acupuncture and heat and cold applications also treat migraines with some degree of effectiveness.