Migraine Headache Information
What is Migraine Headache?
More than 26 million Americans suffer from migraine. Migraine is a neurologic disorder that is characterized by recurrent attacks of headache. Pain most often occurs on one side of the head, accompanied by various combinations of symptoms, such as nausea, vomiting and sensitivity to light and sound. Routine activity typically makes the pain worse. These episodes can last from several hours to several days and are often disabling.
The term migraine means a neurological syndrome which is commonly characterized by headaches and a feeling of nausea also known as sea-sickness. When you first get migraine the pain is more severe compared to a normal headache which doesn’t feel as overwhelming. By severe I mean in terms of feeling a pulsation in your head, sensitive to light and everyday sounds like traffic and listening to the radio and not to loud noises.
Normally the pain is in one side of the head and you can sometimes feel the pain moving from one side to the other. The pain often comes like a burst and can last anywhere from 30 minutes to four days! Most people suffering from migraine headaches often prefer a dark and silent room to rest in (hence the sensitivity to light and sound). Although some migraines come on without warning, many migraine sufferers have warning symptoms ("auras") before the onset of pain. Typical auras last a few minutes and include: blurring or bright spots in the vision, anxiety, fatigue, disturbed thinking, and numbness or tingling on one side of the body.
Cause Of Migraine Headache
No one knows for absolutely sure what causes a migraine headache but there are some very good theories. A migraine event is generally classified as a brain disorder- it involves the narrowing and widening of the arteries in the head. These changes in blood flow produce the head pain. Experts agree that some unknown process triggers a migraine headache by changing the concentration of the various brain chemicals called neurotransmitters. The change in the amounts of neurotransmitters causes the narrowing and widening cycle- and the pain.
Some of the events that have been reported to causes migraine headaches are: hunger, cheese, nuts, avocados, chocolate, food cured with nitrates (e.g., hot dogs), meat tenderizers (e.g., MSG), histamine-releasing foods, alcoholic beverages(especially red wine), food allergies, oral contraceptives, hormonal changes (e.g., menstruation, ovulation, birth-control pills), emotional stress , fatigue, and weather changes especially barometric pressure changes are examples of some common triggers of migraines.
Symptoms Of Migraine Headaches
Migraine headaches usually are described as an intense, throbbing or pounding pain that involves one temple. (Sometimes the pain can be located in the forehead, around the eye, or the back of the head). The pain usually is unilateral (on one side of the head), although about a third of the time the pain is bilateral (bought sides of the head). The unilateral headaches typically change sides from one attack to the next.
A migraine headache usually is aggravated by daily activities like walking upstairs. Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, facial pallor, cold hands, cold feet, and sensitivity to light and sound commonly accompany migraine headaches. As a result of this sensitivity to light and sound, migraine sufferers usually prefer to lie in a quiet, dark room during an attack. A typical attack lasts between 4 and 72 hours.
An estimated 40%-60% of migraine attacks are preceded by premonitory (warning) symptoms lasting hours to days. The symptoms may include sleepiness, irritability, fatigue, depression or euphoria, yawning, and cravings for sweet or salty foods. Patients and their family members usually know that when they observe these warning symptoms that a migraine attack is beginning.
Treatment for migraine headaches
For those of us who suffer from frequent migraine headaches, you may be as interested in finding a way to relieve the pain as you are in finding a way to prevent the headaches from occurring in the first place. Sure, there are many over the counter medications out there today that are designed to treat it, but you should know that if you rely on them for any length of time, you could develop other health problems, such as stomach ulcers.
That being said, there are also many natural, herbal medicines that can be purchased for the treatment of migraine headaches as well. These are not as popular as other medications, but can be just as effective, if not more so, than many of the common OTC remedies. More and more people are tuning into holistic medicine, more commonly called alternative medicine; so this may change in the near future. Here are some examples of treatments for migraine headache:
Acupuncture
Migraines often respond to acupuncture with a decrease in pain severity and frequency of headaches. In addition acupuncture can frequently reduce associated symptoms, such as nausea, fatigue, muscle tension, and emotional stress. Acupuncture may work by altering the release of those familiar neuro-chemicals, like serotonins, in the central nervous system. The ability of acupuncture to affect these chemicals has been shown in many clinical studies.
Biofeedback
Numerous controlled studies have shown that biofeedback alone or in combination with other behavioral therapies may significantly reduce the frequency of headaches in a subset of chronic headache sufferers. Several medical groups strongly recommend using biofeedback before or instead of medications. This therapy is rated as efficacious and specific (level 4 on a scale of 1 - 5 with 5 being the best).
Why biofeedback would help this problem: Tension headaches are usually caused by muscles in the neck, shoulders, jaws and other facial structures being kept too tense for too long. These muscles may become too tense because some people can not recognize the actual level of tension in painful muscles, because of postural problems while working, over-reactions by the muscles to stress, poor habits, etc. Psycho physiological assessments can identify which muscles are not functioning correctly and what circumstances lead to the incorrect patterns of tension. Biofeedback of muscle tension is used to train people to recognize actual levels of tension and to correct these levels in conjunction with relaxation training.
Botox
Botox is currently being offered as an effective option to alleviate migraine symptoms without side effects or risks of interactions with other medications.
Physicians discovered the link between BOTOX and headaches in1992, when patients reported experiencing fewer headaches following injections intended to reduce facial lines and wrinkles. The finding was confirmed by several clinical trials that followed— BOTOX does provide relief to headache sufferers. Furthermore, it was found that BOTOX treatments can reduce migraine headache pain.
It is not clear exactly how BOTOX treatments help headaches. When used for reducing wrinkles or treating certain medical conditions, BOTOX works by blocking nerve impulses responsible for controlling muscles, thereby relaxing the treated area and preventing muscle contraction that can wrinkle the skin or induce spasm. However, with migraine headaches, there is often no muscle component. Scientists speculate that BOTOX works by blocking a specific protein that carries the pain message to the brain.
Diet
Diet also plays an important role in finding a natural cure for migraine headaches. One of the best chronic tension headaches natural treatments is eating 10 to 12 almonds which is equivalent to two aspirin. There are also certain spices and herbs that you should avoid with a migraine such as hot, spicy and fermented foods. Avoiding common food allergens is another great alternative therapy for migraine headaches.
Home Remedies
One tip is that a migraineur must have a very hot bath or a shower when the migraine pain is at its peak, and also avoid facing bright and flashing lights, for example from a television. Lie down in a darkened room and also put a cold compress on the back of your neck, or you can try alternating cold and hot wet cloths with each other for relief. You could try putting your feet in a bowl of warm water, and keep drinking liquids, even water, so that you do not become dehydrated, even if you are feeling nauseous, as migraine sufferers often feel.
Keep massaging your head, face and neck, and also try to press for a minute or two on the two important pressure points at the back of the neck, about two inches apart, just below the base of the skull. This act will release endorphins that help against pain, and provide an effective cure or at the very least, relief from your migraine headache. Alternately, you could try massaging or pressing on the fleshy area between your thumb and forefinger, which is another pressure point known to assist but possible not cure for migraine headache.
There are inexpensive forms of relief from migraine headaches. One that is packaged on the open market is ice wraps. The store bought type is meant to be placed on the forehead or neck of the migraine victim. This originated with the homemade version of ice wraps.
Cure for migraine headache
As you know, experts have stated time and again that there is no real cure for migraine headache, other than to get plenty of rest, and if possible, to sleep it off. However, other migraine sufferers have insisted that they have been able to obtain a modicum of relief from their migraine attacks when they have done either one or the other of the following, which helped them to reduce the pain a little and carry on a semblance of their normal activities.
The best cure for migraine headache symptoms is dependent on the condition of the sufferer and the variables involved in the actual migraine headache. Lifestyle changes are possibly the best way to treat your headaches. For fast migraine headache relief, migraine headache medication can be prescribed for migraine sufferers.
Migraine headache medications
There are many types of treatment methods that are available to migraine sufferers , both natural and unnatural. The most common methods of treatment are pain relievers that are bought without a prescription, or over-the-counter (OTC). Non-prescription drugs can include aspirin, Tylenol (acetaminophen), Motrin (ibuprofen), or a combination of acetaminophen and aspirin, anti-inflammatory drugs such as Advil and Alleve. Many of these work moderately well, but they all have potentially significant adverse side-effects.
The goal in treating acute migraines is to ease the pain within two hours of treatment with no or only minor side effects. A number of medications have been developed to achieve this goal, most notably the triptans, including sumatriptan, rizatriptan, zolmitriptan and naratriptan.
There are a number of options in prescription migraine headache medications , and it will be up to you and your doctor to select the best one for your headaches. The type and amount of pain reliever you should take varies depending on how you responded to the medication previously and how much other medications you took when the headache started.
Thicker Waistline Linked to Migraine Headache
Belly fat may increase the risk of migraine headache in people age twenty to fifty-five. Researchers have found a link between having a thicker waistline and migraine headache.
Botox injections for migraine relief?
You probably heard of injecting Botox to get bigger lips, look younger by injecting Botox under your wrinkles and so on. But It also may help you with your headache.
Migraine headaches is defined as a paroxysmal ailment, accompanied by a severe headache, generally on one side of the head, and associated with disorders of the digestion, the liver, and the vision. Menstrual migraine is different.
Migraine is a neurological disease, and person suffering from this disease often gets the attack of severe un fef bearable headache. The headache often accompanied with other problems such as nausea, vomiting, dizziness and gastrointestinal problems.
Migraine and Neurology-Dental Liaison
According to Dr. John Halmaghi, a leading dentist and expert on migraine and dental related problems, "You will find that migraine patients have an abnormal chewing cycle that is coupled with a severe clench or grind habit.
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