What Is Migraine And How To Prevent It

What is Migraine?

Migraine also called migraine headache is a condition in which specific physiologic changes occur in the brain and lead to severe headache, intense throbbing or a pulsing sensation in one area of the head accompanied with other symptoms. An attack by Migraine may last for hours to several days and is usually accompanied with throbbing headache or nausea or tendency of vomiting. The patient becomes hypersensitive to bright light, sound or specific smell. It has been observed also that in most cases the patient gets specific 'warning signals' such as aura, flashes of light, blind spots or tingling in arms or legs before the onset of the attack.

Symptoms or Signs of Migraine

• Severe, unbearable and throbbing headache usually on one side of the brain.
• Hypersensitivity to noise/sound and light
• Nausea or tendency of vomiting
• Pain in the eyeball and redish
• Sometimes experiencing some flashing light or an 'aura'
• Diarrhoea though not in all cases

Causes of Migraine

The exact reason behind Migraine is not clearly known. It has been suspected that malfunction of certain 'neurotransmitters' responsible for sending signals among 'brain cells' is liable for 'Migraine'. Due to this the brain may become 'hypersensitive' to light or sound resulting in severe 'headache'

How can you Prevent?

There is no cure for 'Migraine'. First of all identify your Triggers :-

The factors that are mainly responsible for triggering the onset of attack are called 'Migraine Triggers'. They vary from person to person. The 'triggers' may include:

• Your boss who can really raise your stress level and give you a headache
• Preserved food
• Alcohol 
• Other beverages
• Habit of drinking too much coffee
• Over sleeping or Less sleeping
• Certain dairy products like cheese
• Hormone fluctuation during menstrual cycles in case of women
• Long exposure to bright light or loud sound for a long period
• Empty stomach for a long period
• Hard labor for a longer period without rest or interval

After you recover from the pain, try to remember what you had eaten, drank or were just doing before the onset of the pain. Try to remember also if you had witnessed some flashing light or an 'aura' or something else before the pain. Note down these points in a diary. Over the period of time you will realize the real reason behind your suffering. Now you have to avoid this reason or reasons for your wellness.

Medication

Medications help reduce severity and frequency of migraine attack. If a specific medication cannot reduce pain then consult your physician for a different medication. The most common medicines are :-

•  Triptans ( naratripta, razatriptan, almotriptan etc) are usually advised by doctors to the patient for treating the pain at home. These tablets are extremely effective to reduce the pain.  

• The use of these tablets have limitations and  must be prescribed by a medical practitioner.

• Medications are not the only answers to get relief from migraine headache, it must be followed by a change in lifestyle 

Some Important Points That Doctors Advise

• Avoid a habit of late night sleep on a daily basis
• Avoid late night movies - it disturb sleep - specially if one is prone to 'headache'
• Avoid or cut coffee/cola specially when you are hungry
• Avoid keeping your stomach empty for a long period
• Avoid delaying the meal when you have an appetite
• Avoid eating heavy specially spicy food
• Avoid skipping meals
• Avoid remaining without drinking water for longer period

A few 'breathing exercises' and 'meditation' work as miracles to cure Migraine. Consult an expert. 

Difference Between 'Tension Headache' and 'Migraine Headache'

People often confuse between the two as they have some common symptoms and may last for a few hours to days. The main difference between the two is that in case of 'Migraine' the pain is more intense often described as throbbing or pulsing in one area of the head accompanied with vomiting, nausea, sensitivity to light and sound, dizziness and may be even temporary loss of vision. While intensity of 'tension headache' is comparatively mild to moderate not throbbing/pulsing type and occurs over both sides of the head. Tension headache usually subsides with relaxation, drinking sufficient water and if needed with 'over-the-counter' non-prescription headache medicines like Aspirin or Ibuprofen type of tablets. 

Read more

How to Reduce Weight with Fruits

Remedies to Stop Snoring

Activated Charcoal -Be Bold and Beautiful

Awesome Foods for Awesome Sexual Stamina

Share on Google Plus

About Tulika