Migraine Headache

More than 35% of population on earth suffer from migraine headaches, a type of headache that is often severe or even disabling. These migraine headaches may be accompanied by light sensitivity, nausea, vomiting and extreme sensitivity to light and sound. Migraine pain can be excruciating and may incapacitate sufferers for hours or even days. Often a person suffering from a severe migraine will need total silence and/or darkness.  Three times more women suffer from migraines than men.

Some of the cause of migraine headaches are:

• Certain foods - such as coffee, tea, chocolate, cheese, and red wine, citrus fruits, tomatoes, potatoes, nuts and nut butters.
• Change in sleep patterns - too little or too much sleep.
• Hormone balance in women - such as periods, the pill, menopause.
• Stress
• Irregular meals
• Caffeine withdrawal
• Physical activity, too much or too little.
• Smoking
• Lights, flashing strobe, high intensity e.g. Sodium halide (stadium, large facility lighting
• Noise
• High pressure weather conditions, changes in barometer pressure, hot dry winds, exposure to sun and glare
• Sexual arousal.
• Smells-perfumes, paint, cleaning chemicals.

Migraine headache signs and symptoms:

• Moderate to severe pain
• Pain on one side or both sides of the head
• Pulsating or throbbing head pain
• Pain that increases with physical activity
• Unable or limited ability to perform daily tasks
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Sound sensitivity
• Light sensitivity

Another type of migraine is the Classic Migraine (Migraine with Aura). This type of migraine affects about one-fourth of all migraine sufferers.

signs or symptoms:

• Sparkling flashes of light
• Dazzling zigzag lines in your field of vision
• Slowly spreading blind spots
• Tingling, pins and needles sensation in one arm or leg
• Weakness
• Speech problems

The most least type of migraine is the migraine without aura or “Common Migraine”. This type of migraine headache affects 3 out of 4 people who get migraines. The headache comes on suddenly without any warning.

Migraine headache pain relief methods or the "Alternative treatment for migraine headaches":

• Keep a diary - note the foods you ate, where you were and are, what you where doing… try to identify causes.
• Relaxation therapy
• Take a warm bath or shower
• Avoid exercise during headache if it makes throbbing pain in head and neck worse.
• Massage face, head, neck and shoulders
• Gentle heat therapy
• Eat something if you have not eaten for a while, avoid foods on the trigger list
• Drink good filtered water
• Eliminate noise or light to increase relaxation