Migraine headaches must be among the most debilitating illnesses in the world. If you’re a sufferer you will understand what I mean.

Symptoms and warning signals

The frequency and severity may differ from person to person but lots of individuals still loose two or three days per month to migraine. Yes, that’s lost money on your pay cheque or misplaced quality leisure time with family and friends. That severe throbbing pain usually at the same side of your brain and frequently accompanied by nausea completely knocks many people of their toes.

The lucky ones may find some warning a couple of days before such as cravings for particular foods like chocolate and sweets or general lethargy. In such cases in the event you’re able to recognise these warning signals it might be possible to eliminate the cause or begin treatment before the beginning.

Other people will have what’s called an “air” for a brief time before the migraine kicks in. The most frequent signs of this “air” are flashing lights in front of your eyes or zig zag lines interrupting your eyesight. There are lots of triggers which may cause an attack.

What causes Headaches?

In this day and age possibly the most frequent cause is stress at the work area, the feeling of being continuously put under stress can cause great anxiety thus fuelling the migraine. Certain foods are also to blame like cheese, alcohol, chocolate – red wine in particular, and processed foods that frequently contain monosodium glutamate.

On the other hand lack of food may also act as a trigger. Strong scents such as paint, perfume, rancid smoke or being in a stuffy atmosphere frequently contribute. To be truthful it requires more than one of those factors to trigger an attack and the mix is unique to every individual. Before you can consider how to attack the symptoms, prevent or lessen the intensity of attacks it’s imperative that you work out what the mix of variables is that may cause the headache.

What can you do?

Try keeping a diary of foods consumed, dates when you felt under increased anxiety, and so to gradually build an image or pattern of events leading up to strikes. For girls (who are more likely to suffer from migraines than men) it is important to keep an eye on your monthly cycles as hormonal changes in the body prior to and during your monthly period are often the trigger. The contraceptive pill and hormone replacement therapy may also sometimes increase the incidence of migraine. So, you’ve established the cause what do you do today?

There are a great many “over the counter” drugs designed to ease the symptoms, both nausea and pain, however in sever attacks these might not be enough. Prescription drugs from a physician might be more successful and can usually be tailored to suit individuals.

Headaches Self Help

However, plenty of sufferers nowadays would rather not take medication but instead try different methods usually aimed more at prevention instead of cure. There are some things you can try:

1. Try various techniques of comfort for instance; meditation or yoga, going along to one of those classes may prove to be fun!

2. Ensure you get enough sleep most people need between 7 and 9 hours each night.

3. Take some kind of exercise as an instance swimming or walking – nothing too excessive because too much exertion can bring on a migraine!

4. Set aside at least one hour per day just to do something that you like which will relax you like reading a book, watch your favorite television show, do some gardening – fresh air can work wonders after a day in the office!

5. Eliminate foods from your diet entirely that you’ve established act as triggers for your headaches. Have some fun trying out recipes using options.

6. A gentle massage can be quite powerful along with other more alternative treatments seem to help in some instances like acupuncture.

7. If you experience an attack attempt lying in a darkened area and put an ice pack in the back of your neck – for others a hot water bottle may be more effective.

8. Apply gentle pressure to the painful areas of your mind and if possible sleep.

9. There are herbal medicines which could be taken as preventative measures like feverfew and butterbur or supplements containing magnesium and vitamin B2.

10. The most important point to keep in mind when seeking to stop or reduce migraine attacks would be to remove at least one of the contributory factors – the causes.