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Headaches are comprised of two major categories, primary and secondary. Headaches belonging to the primary group are not caused by underlying medical conditions while secondary headaches are the result of a medical condition such as trauma, infection or possibly even a brain tumor. Most headaches belong in the primary category.

The primary category headaches include migraine headaches and tension headaches. These two headache types are the most common of all headaches with tension-type headaches being the most common. Tension headaches constitute about 75% of all headaches while migraine headaches affect as many as 30 or 40 million Americans, or approximately 10% or more of the American population.

Migraine headaches can become chronic in nature, but are typically experienced at most once or twice a week, not daily.

Females experience the pain of migraines about 3 times as often as males, or about 75% of the time.

Migraine headaches can be severe and disabling. They can be accompanied by nausea, vomiting and a sensitivity to light. About 20% of migraine patients will experience an aura. An aura is a disturbance in vision that consists of brightly colored blinking lights that move across a person’s field of vision.

There are many types of treatment methods that are available to migraine sufferers, both natural and unnatural. The most common method of treatment are pain relievers that are bought without a prescription, or over-the-counter. Non-prescription drugs can include aspirin, Tylenol (acetaminophen), Motrin (ibuprofen), or a combination of acetaminophen and aspirin. These are the most commonly purchased types of non-prescription pain relievers. Migraine headache patients experiencing more severe pain may need prescription medicine.

There are also many types of natural treatment methods that don’t involve the use of non-prescription or prescription medications. These methods of treatment can often relieve migraine headache symptoms and are increasingly gaining popularity in today’s society as people are becoming more educated on the potentially dangerous side effects of drugs.

One of these natural treatment methods is putting an ice pack on the back of the neck at the base of the skull. When using an ice pack there should be a barrier between the ice pack and the skin such as a wetted cloth or t-shirt that has had the water squeezed out of it. Ice therapy can lessen the flow of blood to the head resulting in less pressure in the head. It can often help relieve the throbbing pain of a migraine headache by decreasing the flow of blood to the head. It is often beneficial for a person to put their feet in a container of warm water at the same time. This can have the effect of attracting the blood to the feet instead of to the head.

Migraine headaches can sometimes be caused by foods and can be prevented by eliminating these food triggers.

Foods that can trigger migraine headaches include, but are not limited to, caffeine, chocolate, alcohol, MSG (monosodium glutamate), nuts, cheese, beans, onions and others. Eliminating the trigger may eliminate the migraines.

Another natural treatment method for migraine headaches is simply to reduce stress by relaxing. Many migraines are caused by stress, so eliminating the stress can relieve the pain. Relieving stress can sometimes be achieved by getting plenty of sleep, lying down in a dark quiet room, or a combination of lying down in a dark quiet room with a small ice pack positioned on the neck at the base of the skull as explained above.

This article is a general overview with regard to natural migraine headache treatment methods and may not apply to everyone. As always it is a good idea to seek the help of a professional before treating yourself for a potentially serious health condition. To the best of your health!!

Serotonin is a hormone that is technically called 5-hydroxyterpitamine and is produced and found in the pineal gland, blood platelets, the digestive tract, and the brain.

Seroronin acts both as a chemical messenger that transmits nerve signals between nerve cells; and a substance that causes blood vessels to narrow. Changes in the serotonin levels in the brain can alter a person’s mood. Serotonin, based on some studies, also cause or trigger migraine headaches.

Migraines occur mainly due to the constriction of blood vessels near the brain. Typically, migraine pain lasts from four to 72 hours. Migraine affects about 15% of the entire U.S. population. Three times as many women as men have migraines. More than 80% of people with migraines (called migraineurs) have other members in the family who have them too. Migraine headaches are the second most common type of primary headache and they can have other symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, or sensitivity to light.

A migraine is caused by the enlargement of the temporal artery, which is the artery that lies on the outside of the skull and under the skin of our forehead. When this artery enlarges, it stretches nerves around it and they in turn release certain chemicals. These chemicals are the cause of the pain that is called a migraine, and they also cause the artery to enlarge even more…more pain, more enlargement. Migraines are just a never-ending circle of agony.

Prescription-strength non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) can reduce the frequency of attacks in over half of migraine sufferers. Mefenamic acid (Ponstel) and naproxen (Anaprox) are particularly useful for preventing migraines associated with menstruation. Beta-blockers are usually prescribed to reduce high blood pressure. Some, however, are also useful in reducing the frequency of migraine attacks and their severity when they occur. Propranolol (Inderal) and timolol (Blocadren) have been approved specifically for prevention of migraine. Others medications that have been found to be effective include metoprolol (Lopressor, Toprol XL), and nadolol (Corgard).

However, regular headache pain relievers and other oral medications are probably going to do little to help.

They are simply not absorbed the way they should be. However, a person with migraine could try some natural remedies such as massage, heat, a hot shower, relaxation techniques or any activity that helps puts aside the worries for the moment and relaxes the body. Another non-chemical method used by people to treat migraines is called acupuncture, a procedure that helps calm the temporal artery and the sympathetic nerve system. There are a lot of practitioners of Acupuncture. They are licensed, highly trained professionals that can be trusted by patients.

When considering how to naturally prevent a migraine headache, you can try lavender or peppermint oil as a topical solution or inhaler. These can be put in a vaporizer or washcloth. Calcium and magnesium supplements also help relieve muscle tension.

Alternative medicines for migraine headache pain sufferers are available without the risks or adverse effects of the regular pain relief medications. Besides being more conservative than the medical establishment’s methods of migraine pain relief, they’re often just as effective, if not more so.

How do I know whether this is migraine? This is the most common question most people are unsure about diagnosis of migraine. Though all migraines are headaches, all headaches are not migraines.

There can be many causes like high blood pressure, cervical spondylosis and poor eyesight being a few. So every one with headaches should not think he is suffering from migraine. The broad criterion of diagnosis is if you have two or more of the following symptoms during a attack it is probable you are suffering from migraine:

a. Throbbing headache, often on one side of the head only.
b. Visual disturbances (blink spots, distorted vision, flashing lights or zigzag patterns) these symptoms are often called aura.
c. Nausea and vomiting or diarrhea.
d. Increased sensitivity to light.
e. Increase sensitivity to sounds.

The second general rule is that if a headache and other associated symptoms prevent you from continuing with daily activities it could be a migraine.

What are the common triggers?

Migraine is believed to be caused by release of a chemical called serotonin or 5HT into the bloodstream from its storage sites in the body, resulting in changes in neurotransmitters and blood vessels in the brain. Exactly what causes this to happen is still not clear: However certain factors have been identified which can trigger attacks in susceptible people:

a. Emotional stress, e.g., anger, worry, shock, depression.
b. Physical exertion like over exertion / tiredness change in sleep patterns and traveling.
c. Hormonal changes like menstruation and pre-menstrual period, puberty, menopause.
d. Environmental like light, loud noise, intense smells, change or climate or smoking
e. Diet like lack of food or infrequent meals, specific foods like chocolate, citrus fruits, cheese, alcohol, especially red wine.
f. Other triggers like use of sleeping tablets high blood pressure, toothache or other dental problems, eyestrain, congested nose and sinus problems.

Migraine triggers are numerous and varied and occur in combinations peculiar to a individual. For most there is not just one trigger but a combination. These can be tolerated individually but when several occur together, a threshold is passed and an attack is triggered. Identifying and avoiding personal trigger factors can help.

If one of my parents suffers from migraines, is it necessary that I will also have it?

Though it has been seen that migraine does run in families, it is not necessary that children of migraine patients will also have it. Nor this is true the other way round. People often say that since nobody in family had migraine, they cannot have. This is also not true. It is possible for people to have migraine even when nobody in the family has it.

Migraine is difficult to cure?

Migraine is very much a curable disease as any other disease.

Sight is the sense that human minds get the most information about their environment out of. While we may not entirely retain all of that rich information, it nonetheless stands that visual information forms the core of how we recall details and perceive reality.

So when visual information is constricted, cut off, or downright unintelligible, things happen. Due to the reliance of the typical human psyche on visual information, as well as a number of things in modern life, over stimulation of the eyes can be a problem that might end in visual migraines.

Visual migraines are basically a migraine that was induced by some sort of visual stimuli, and is generally relived by your usual array of migraine relief medications. However, the causes of visual migraines can vary more than the average migraine, as this variant of migraine tends to be caused more by how the brain burns itself out interpreting visual signals than more typical factors.

Visual stimuli nowadays can go from one extreme to another, particularly in what some circles address as “non-traditional” art mediums.

The use of exceedingly bright colors and flashy visual effects in movies, video games, and even website layouts can sometimes lead to visual migraines, particularly if the exposure has been for a prolonged period. There are a number of ways for visual stimuli to cause visual migraines, though most reports tend to focus on bright lights and flashy CGI effects founds in movies and video games.

One particular incident incorrectly attributed to visual migraines involved the Japanese version of the popular children’s cartoon “Pokemon.” Initial reports specifically stated that some of the show’s effects caused seizures, though some have referred to the effects as migraines. Similarly, unofficial statistics in Japan have cited a number of shows on Japanese TV, particularly some of the more male-oriented and action-themed anime, as having migraine-inducing special effects. Of course, due to the nature of these statistics, most pharmaceutical companies have not taken much notice of this in their migraine relief advertising campaigns.

In general, visual stimuli that causes people to seek migraine relief has a tendency to come in the form of unconventional patterns or certain abstract data. While a Picasso might not cause the need for migraine relief, to a degree, some of the more extreme examples of modern art have been held responsible.

Other examples of visual stimuli that has people reaching for migraine relief after a few minutes of exposure include the occasional deliberate attempt to induce one. This is typically done by placing an already visually complex picture, such as an abstract painting, and superimposing an unconventional figure into the painting itself. The result usually, but not always, results in a migraine.

Interestingly, migraine relief for this sort of problem is often purchased by people in the accounting field. This is often attributed to the nature of the visual stimuli involved in their work.

Spreadsheets are notorious for causing a number of vision-related problems, with migraines being one of them..

Hence, migraine relief medications, as already stated, do help in getting rid of visual migraines. These drugs are readily available at most drug stores and are effective regardless of what the nature of the migraine is.

Abdominal migraine is also known as periodic syndrome which is common among children. It typically occurs to those have it in their heredity and this type may lead to a classic migraine. Symptoms of this type include periodic attacks of pain in the abdomen in approximately two hours.

Basilar migraine, also called Bickerstaff’s syndrome, typically affects adolescent women. This occurs when migraine obstructs the circulation the back part of the neck or brain. Its symptoms are dizziness, loss of balance, and even fainting.

Another type is the complicated migraine that usually occurs with extended aura that may last for a number of hours or could reach to few days. This type poses a risk of the disorder leading to changes in the neurological area of the brain which is associated with MRI scan changes, those that are present in stroke.

Hemiplegic migraine is the rarest among all types but one of the most severe. Its symptoms include temporary paralysis of the motor function and obstructions in the sensory system on a certain side of the body. As soon as the headache occurs, these symptoms may be gone.

When migraine attacks early morning, it is the nocturnal type. Studies show that this type of migraine is associated with adrenalin changes.

Cyclic migraine syndrome is the most disturbing when it comes to dealing with a person’s daily activities. It occurs ten times or more every month.

Treatment

Doctors recommend over-the-counter pain relievers or anti-inflammatory medications namely:

• Ibuprofen – Motrin, Advil
• Naproxen – Alleve
• Aspirin - Excedrin Migraine
• Triptans
o Sumatriptan – Imitrex
o Zolmitriptan – Zomig
o Naratriptan – Amerge

Triptans are a new class of migraine medications that aids in managing the source of pain. What it does is that it reduces the tendency of the blood vessels to swell in the brain and lessens inflammation; all these contribute to reducing the pain caused by migraine.

For natural treatment, just rest in a dark area, drink more water, and place a cloth soaked from cold water on your forehead. Do not be terrified, it wouldn’t help at all; just relax.