Tips to Prevent & Overcome Migraine

Migraine is a throbbing headache that often accompanied by nausea and vomiting. Patients are usually sensitive to light, sounds and even smells. These headaches most often occurs only on one side of your head, sometimes switching to the other side, but can be on both sides of the head at once.

Migraine is sometimes rather difficult to distinguish from other types of headaches. Headaches due to sinus problems or neck muscle strain have similar symptoms with symptoms of migraine.

Migraine can occur with other diseases such as asthma and depression. A very severe disease, such as tumors or infections, can also cause migraine-like symptoms. But this incident is very rare.

Kinds of Migraine

Migraine is divided into two major groups namely:

Regular migraine (migraine without aura): Most migraine sufferers into this type. Common migraine headache characterized by throbbing on one side with the intensity of moderate to severe and get worse at the time of activity. Migraine is also accompanied by nausea, vomiting, sensitivity to light, sound, and smell. Headache will be gone in 4 to 72 hours, even if it is not treated.

Classical migraine (migraine with aura): In the classic type, migraine is usually preceded by a phenomenon called an aura, which occurs within 30 minutes before a migraine arises. Classic migraine is 30% of all migraine.

Another type of migraine which include:

Menstrual migraine, for example, migraine that occurs several days before menstruation, during menstruation, or after menstruation. Menstrual migraine migraine can form any regular or classical migraine. Complications of migraine, the migraine is accompanied by symptoms of nervous system disorders, such as numbness and tingling, difficulty of speaking or understanding speech, inability to move her arms or legs. In complications migraine, neurological symptoms persisted despite the migraine has been cured.

Causes of Migraine

The exact cause of migraine is still not so clear. It is estimated that hiper-activities of the brain's electrical impulses increase blood flow in the brain, resulted a brain blood vessel dilation and inflammation. This dilation and inflammation cause pain and other symptoms, such as nausea. The more severe inflammation that occurs, the more severe migraine is also suffered. It is known that genetic factors contribute to the occurrence of migraine.

The Symptoms of Migraine

Initial symptoms:

One or two days before a migraine arises, patients usually experience early symptoms such as weakness, excessive yawning, wanting one kind of food (for example chocolate), irritable, and anxious.

Aura

Aura is only found in classical migraine. Usually occurs within 30 minutes before the migraine. Aura of visual impairment can be shaped like seeing wavy lines, bright lights, dark spots, or can not see objects clearly. Other symptom of the aura is amusement or tingling in the hands. Some people can not say the words properly, feeling numb in the arms, shoulders, or face, or feel weak on one side of the body, or feeling confused. Patients may experience only one symptom only or several kinds of symptoms, but these symptoms do not occur simultaneously but alternately. An aura symptom usually disappear when the head pain or other aura symptoms arises. But sometimes the aura symptoms persist at the beginning of a headache.

Headache and accompanying symptoms

Patients feel the throbbing pain on one side of the head, often felt behind the eyes. Pain may move to the other side on the next attack, or on both sides. The pain ranges from moderate to severe. Other symptoms that often accompany the headache include:

Excessive sensitivity to light, sound, and smell

Nausea and vomiting

More severe symptoms occur while doing physical activity. Without treatment, the headache usually healed by itself within 4 to 72 hours.

Symptoms End

Once the headache is gone; the patient may feel pain in muscles, weakness, or even a brief feel of excitement. These symptoms disappear within 24 hours after the disappearance of headache.

Things that can Trigger a Migraine

Migraine can be triggered by foods, stress, and changes in daily routine activities, although it is unclear how and why it can cause migraines. Migraine triggers include:

• Consumption of certain foods like chocolate, MSG, and coffee

• Excessive sleep or less sleep

• Skip eating

• Changes in weather or air pressure

• Stress or emotional stress

• There is very stingy odor or cigarette smoke

• There is very bright light or reflection of sunlight

What You can Do at Home to Overcome Migraine

There are several ways you can do at home to reduce the frequency of attacks and reduce the symptoms, such as reducing stress and identify migraine triggers, then avoid them.

Overcome your stress naturally, because migraines are more common when having stress. Do relaxation training to reduce muscle tension.

Anti-pain which provides drug-free can be purchased at drug stores. Make a diary of your headaches. This can help you to identify the factors, and then avoid them. From these records, it can also be known whether your migraines is more often or increasing.

If you estimate that you experienced migraine related with or anxiety, try asking for help to overcome depression and anxiety. Reduced depression and anxiety associated with a reduced frequency of migraine attacks.

How to Prevent Migraine

The best way to deal with migraines is to avoid it. By identifying and avoiding the things that cause factors of the migraine, the number of attacks and severity of migraine can be reduced. Indeed, some factors are outside our ability to control it, but there are a few things we can avoid. The following things can help you to prevent migraine:

• Recognizing factors of migraines by making a diary

• Sleep and do habitual activities regularly

• Eat regularly and avoid foods that can trigger migraine

• Overcoming stress

• Avoiding cigarette smoke, either as active or passive smokers

• Prevention can also be done with drugs, although the side effects can occur from light to moderate. The drug is also usually rather expensive. However, these drugs are sometimes effective to prevent and reduce the severity of migraine, which improves the quality of life.

Anyone at High Risk of Suffering from Migraine

• Families who have suffered from migraine

• Women, three times more often than men

• Adolescents or young adults

• Suffering from depression, anxiety disorders, asthma, or epilepsy

Contact your doctor if your headache does not improve well within 1 or 2 days, or you often wake up at night, or your headaches become more intense or more frequent