A migraine is a severe, painful headache that
is often preceded or accompanied by sensory warning signs such as flashes of
light, blind spots, tingling in the arms and legs, nausea, vomiting, and
increased sensitivity to light and sound. The excruciating pain that migraines
bring can last for hours or even days.
Symptoms
Migraine headaches often begin in childhood,
adolescence or early adulthood. Migraines may progress through four stages,
including prodrome, aura, headache and postdrome, though you may not experience
all the stages.
Prodrome
One or two days before a migraine, you may
notice subtle changes that signify an oncoming migraine, including:
- Constipation
- Depression
- Food cravings
- Hyperactivity
- Irritability
- Neck stiffness
- Uncontrollable yawning
Aura
Aura may occur before or during migraine
headaches. Auras are nervous system symptoms that are usually visual
disturbances, such as flashes of light. Sometimes auras can also be touching
sensations (sensory), movement (motor) or speech (verbal) disturbances. Most
people experience migraine headaches without aura. Each of these symptoms
usually begins gradually, builds up over several minutes, and then commonly
lasts for 20 to 60 minutes. Examples of aura include:
- Visual phenomena, such as seeing various shapes, bright spots or
flashes of light
- Vision loss
- Pins and needles sensations in an arm or leg
- Speech or language problems (aphasia)
Less commonly, an aura may be associated with
limb weakness (hemiplegic migraine).
Attack
When untreated, a migraine usually lasts from
four to 72 hours, but the frequency with which headaches occur varies from
person to person. You may have migraines several times a month or much less
often. During a migraine, you may experience the following symptoms:
- Pain on one side or both sides of your head
- Pain that has a pulsating, throbbing quality
- Sensitivity to light, sounds and sometimes smells
- Nausea and vomiting
- Blurred vision
- Lightheadedness, sometimes followed by fainting
The final phase, known as postdrome, occurs
after a migraine attack. During this time you may feel drained and washed out,
though some people report feeling mildly euphoric.
Causes
Migraines may be caused by changes in the
brainstem and its interactions with the trigeminal nerve, a major pain pathway.
Imbalances in brain chemicals — including
serotonin, which helps regulate pain in your nervous system — also may be
involved. Researchers continue to study the role of serotonin in migraines.
Serotonin levels drop during migraine
attacks. This may cause your trigeminal system to release substances called
neuropeptides, which travel to your brain's outer covering (meninges). The
result is headache pain.
Remedies
for Migraine
1. Tea
Tree Oil
Massaging
the affected area gently with tea tree oil provides immense relief in migraine
pain. It is one of the best home remedies to get rid of the migraine pain.
2.
Vinegar
Vinegar is
especially effective to help migraine pain in pregnant women. Soak a washrag in
vinegar and put it on the area that is hurting the most. Let the vinegar
properly absorb into the skin for at least thirty minutes to get relief in the
migraine.
3. Chamomile
or Mint Tea
These are
superb herbal remedies for migraine. Chamomile and mint teas can do wonders for
the person suffering from migraine. If not possible to have mint or chamomile
tea, dig yourself into a hot cup of any other tea.
4.
Cabbage
Use the
leaves of cabbage as a compress. It relieves the pressure that is created by
the migraine.
5.
Ice-Pack
Take some
ice-cubes in a cloth and use it as a compress on the paining area of the head.
Ice will calm down the pain and thumping inside the head resulted due to
migraine.
6. Hot
Compress
Hot compress
made with the help of a cloth soaked in hot water is good for helping the
migraine ache. It will relieve pain and also help the patient to sleep well for
at least some time.
7. Ginger
Ginger cures
the nausea that occurs due to constant pain in the head.
8.
Peppermint Oil
Rubbing
peppermint oil on the aching part of the head cures the migraine pain
naturally. The camphoraceous odour of peppermint oil calms down the chronic
migraine pain.
9. Henna
The flowers
of henna are very effective in treating headaches and migraine pains. Dip
henna flowers in vinegar and apply it on the forehead to get instant respite
from the migraine pain.
10.
Niacin
It is a kind
of vitamin, which should be one of the important parts of your diet. Sunflower
seeds, yeast, whole wheat, tomatoes, liver, green leafy vegetables, nuts, and
fish are rich sources of niacin. It helps in relieving the migraine ache.
11.
Magnesium
Magnesium is
considered to be an essential supplement for alleviating the pain. Therefore,
fresh fruits and vegetable juices are the good options for consuming magnesium.
Carrot juice, combined with the juice of beetroot, spinach and cucumber, is an
effective remedy to help migraine. Juice of fresh grapes without adding any
water is also a good source of magnesium and curing migraine.
12.
Cinnamon Powder
Application
of a mixture of two tablespoons of cinnamon powder with water on the temple of
the forehead offers relief from the migraine pain.
13. Lemon
Rind
Separate the
rind or outer covering of lemon and crush it. Apply the crushed rind paste on
the temple for curing the migraine.
REMEMBER
Whether or
not you take preventive medications, you may benefit from lifestyle changes
that can help reduce the number and severity of migraines. One or more of these
suggestions may be helpful for you:
- Avoid triggers. If certain foods or odors seem to have
triggered your migraines in the past, avoid them.
Your doctor
may recommend you reduce your caffeine and alcohol intake and avoid tobacco.
In general,
establish a daily routine with regular sleep patterns and regular meals. In
addition, try to control stress.
- Exercise regularly. Regular aerobic exercise reduces
tension and can help prevent migraines. If your doctor agrees, choose any
aerobic exercise you enjoy, including walking, swimming and cycling. Warm
up slowly, however, because sudden, intense exercise can cause headaches.
Obesity is
also thought to be a factor in migraine headaches, and regular exercise can
help you maintain a healthy weight or lose weight.
- Reduce the effects of estrogen. If you're a woman who has migraines and estrogen seems to trigger or make your headaches worse, you may want to avoid or reduce the medications you take that contain estrogen.