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Migraine Relief
Migraine headache is an intense, throbbing, severe pain that involves one temple. This pain usually occurs in the frontal area, around the temples or behind one ear or eye. It may be associated with nausea & vomitting - the one suffering from such a headache can be extremely sensitive towards any bright light & loud sound. The occurrence of migraine can be at any point of time in the day, even though it is mostly said to start in the mornings, and could last for a couple of hours or up to 1-2 days. In this article we will look into some of the common causes of migraine and its treatment.
Triggers
The actual cause of migraine is yet to be determined, but based on some factors that are very much common among people who have them, certain conslusions have been drawn. People who come in the age bracket of 15 yrs - 55 yrs are most affected by migraine. Also, such headaches are believed to be hereditary and caused mostly in women.
Migraines are believed to be triggered by narrowing or expanding of the blood vessels. When it narrows, it causes constriction of blood flow affecting sight and causing dizziness, nausea and diarrhea, and when expanded they start to press on nearby nerves, which causes the pain.
Migraines can start to occur when the brain goes through chemical changes. These are the chemicals in the brain which exchange messages between cells, when these are inerrupted, it gives way to the migraine pain, that is including the messages which travel to blood vessels to expand or get narrow.
Recent studies have linked genes to migraine. Some of the people suffering from migraine may have inherited abnormally behaving genes which control the functional areas of certain brain cells. When a person has a sensitive body, towards something in some way, triggers the actual headache.
Such headaches are triggered by many factors varying from individual to individual and each trigger too differs in the kind of headache the person is suffering. Migraines in women are caused by inappropriate sleep, poor diet, harsh lights or noise, hormonal changes around ovulation and stress & anxiety, menstrual cycle, changes in weather, alcohol, cocoa (chocolate), nicotine, and certain type of food is said to trigger it.
Treatment
Migraines don’t seem to have any cure, however certain treatments recommended by doctors can help make such headaches less frequent or severe. Listed below are all or some of these methods.
Lifestyle changes
It is very important to maintain a 'headache' diary to note down the events after which the headache occurs. In doing so, finding and avoiding things that cause headache is one way to reduce how often attacks happen and how painful they are. Diet, the amount of stress in your life, and other lifestyle habits may add to getting migraines. Generally, leading a healthy life style with good nutrition, adequate water intake, reducing the alcohol intake, sufficient sleep and exercise may be useful. Learning some techniques to reduce stress and finding other positive ways to cope with stress can tremendously help reduce headaches.
Medicines
Drugs such as aspirin, acetominophen, ibuprofen, which can be used to treat migraine headaches can either prevent the attack or relieve the symptom during the attacks.
Alternative Method
Learning how to control the body's reaction to stress in order to reduce its effects helps in controlling the frequency of the headaches. Acupuncture has been suggested to be a useful non-medication therapy. Counseling can help if these headaches are related to depression or anxiety. Also, once the attack has started, using ice, biofeedback, and relaxation techniques may be helpful at stopping it.
Conclusions
Since there is no cure for migraine, it is often under-diagnosed and under-treated. Nevertheless, migraine sufferers can restore an improved life with the help of numerous interventions. These measures should take into consideration the various aspects of the particular patient's condition. Migraines, its symptoms, and its causes differ from individual to individual, hence keeping this into consideration triggering factors, nerve inflammation, blood vessel changes and pain are each addressed aggressively for optimal outcome.