DESCRIPTION:
A migraine is a painful headache that may be preceded by a warning sign, also called an aura or a prodrome, such as a flash or flashes of light, dizziness or numbness. Migraine pain can be excruciating and may leave the afflicted individual incapacitated for hours or even days. While these headaches usually last from between four to 72 hours, the frequency with which they are experienced varies from individual to individual. They may occur just once or twice a year or several times a month.
How does a migraine headache develop?
Migraine headaches commonly start during childhood (between 2.5 percent and 22 percent of children experience extreme headache pain) and may lose their intensity and frequency as one ages. Children as young as two can suffer from migraines. In addition, they tend to run in the family – if one's parents suffered from migraines, there's a 74 percent chance the children will as well. During childhood, boys and girls experience these headaches with the same frequency. After puberty, however, girls tend to suffer more. The intensity of headaches may increase for women during the first few months of pregnancy as well as during menstruation.
Research suggests that migraines may be caused by functional changes in the trigeminal nerve system, a major pain pathway in the brain, and by imbalances in the chemical serotonin, which acts as a regulator to pain messages going through this pathway. Other studies utilizing brain scans have shown that the volume and amount of blood reaching the brain is restricted during migraine attacks. In addition, the mineral magnesium, which is involved in nerve cell function, drops right before or during migraines, indicating that low levels of magnesium may cause nerves in the brain to misfire.
Migraine headaches are often triggered by something a person ingests, such as alcohol; aged cheeses; chocolate; fermented, pickled or marinated foods; monosodium glutamate; caffeine; and aspartame. Other types of triggers can include physical and psychological factors such as stress and fatigue, intense physical activity, weather changes, season and altitude level and time zone changes. Changes in sleeping or eating patterns, bright lights, medications, low blood sugar, tobacco, secondhand smoke and strange odors can also bring on a migraine headache.
What are the symptoms of a migraine headache?
Migraines usually begin with an intense pain on one side of the head that may gradually spread. Severe nausea, vomiting and hypersensitivity to light and sound can accompany a migraine headache.
Experts claim that 10 percent of adults who have migraines with an aura will most likely have warning signs approximately 20 minutes before the headache starts. Warning signs include flashes of sparkling light, zigzag lines in the field of vision, blind spots that slowly spread into the field of vision, numbness, tingling or a feeling of weakness in the face as well as hand or leg, and sometimes difficulty seeing or speaking.
Other forms of migraines (ones without an aura) may still have one or more symptoms of premonition several hours before the headache actually starts. The symptoms or signs can include feelings of elation or intense energy, a craving for sweets, a feeling of thirst, irritability, drowsiness or depression.
Conventional medical treatments may help relieve the symptoms of migraine headaches but they do not address the root of the problem. Discover why we believe that natural medicine treatments are the best way to treat migraine headaches and may end migraine forever.
