What do Vincent Van Gogh, Lewis Carroll, Claude Monet, Julius Caesar, Virginia Wolfe, Napolean, Elvis Presley, and President John F. Kennedy have in common? They are amongst the countless individuals that have played out their unique life story while dealing with the challenge of migraines.
The Mayo Clinic summarizes the definition of a migraine as such:
"A migraine headache can cause intense throbbing or pulsing in one area of the head and is commonly accompanied by nausea, vomiting, and extreme sensitivity to light and sound. migraine attacks can cause significant pain for hours to days and be so severe that all you can think about is finding a dark, quiet place to lie down. some migraines are preceded or accompanied by sensory warning symptoms (aura) such as flashes of light, blind spots or tingling in your arm or leg."
As unappealing as the above set of symptoms sounds, anyone who has experienced a migraine knows that a simple string of sentences does nothing to convey the intensity of debilitating effects migraines can have on daily life.
Migraines can also affect speech, and make it difficult to form sentences. Migraines typically last from four hours to three days, and sometimes even longer. The various visual phenomena, or, aura, that precede a migraine (usually by about 10-30 minutes before the headache) are experienced by approximately 20 percent of migraine sufferers.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the National Headache foundation report that approximately 30 million Americans suffer from migraines. 30 million! And a whopping 75% of those are women. So where do they come from, and why do some people suffer from them, when others have never experienced a migraine in their life?
A migraine is uniquely different than most other types of headaches, in that it is caused by vasodilation of cranial blood vessels, as opposed to vasoconstriction being the culprit in most other types of headaches- such as tension headaches. Genetics plays an influential role as well- 90% of migraine sufferers come from a family with a history of them. While the exact reason hasn't been fully explained yet, it is clear that migraine sufferers brain's are more easily excited than non-sufferers- the neurons are triggered to fire more easily.
Fluctuations in female hormones seem to increase the brain’s hyper-excitability even more. 75% of migraine sufferers are women, and migraines are often triggered before or during menstrual periods when estrogen levels drop. Additionally, most women report a decrease in frequency and severity of migraines after menopause.
Treatment options:
Most treatment options for migraine sufferers offer little to no relief, not to mention short lived results. More and more research is backing up the therapeutic effects of "alternative" medicine- natural, holistic health and wellness options that work to address the underlying cause of migraines, and prevent future attacks, as opposed to just trying to find a quick fix to cover a symptom for temporary relief.
The first step toward finding a solution for your unique set of symptoms, is finding what triggers send your brain into that hyper-excited state. There are uncontrollable triggers, such as weather fluctuations, and varying hormones during the menstrual cycle. Then there are controllable triggers, such as odors, lights, smoke, and diet.
Stress management is the number one goal for prevention, and making sure sleep is regular, restful, and the right amount for you, is a huge component to pain relief. Eating regularly and drinking enough water are also important components in migraine prevention. Along with eating regular, balanced meals of healthy, nutritive food, it's important to be conscious of dietary triggers. Some common dietary triggers include alcohol, dairy, chocolate, caffeine, gluten, aspartame, monosodium glutamate, salty foods, processed foods, and foods with nitrates. A food diary can be invaluable to help you identify triggers.
Naturopathic Doctors and Medical Doctors are recommending Acupuncture as a way to help prevent migraines, because they see the results. Because Acupuncture is a holistic medicine, it is addressing each patient on an individual basis, creating a unique treatment to address the symptoms they are experiencing. Acupuncture is beneficial for stress relief, and also therapeutic for improving quality of sleep, and those two reasons alone are enough to give it a try. Additionally, research has shown that Acupuncture points shift the body back into a parasympathetic mode, the central nervous system's "rest and relax" mode, a state conducive to healing, stress relief, and pain relief. Acupuncture is famous for pain relief, because it triggers the release of endogenous endorphins, our body's own natural painkillers.
Since migraines are such a complex condition, with varying triggers and symptoms, the treatment also needs to be unique and individualized, in order to get effective, lasting results. While there is no simple fix or easy cure, the process of studying your migraine patterns empowers you with knowledge that can be used to properly address your symptoms and find a level of relief that allows you to live a more manageable daily life.
Click here to read an article that explains the benefits of Acupuncture as compared to standard medical care for migraines.
Click here to learn why Acupuncture is a more effective and affordable option than Botox for migraines.
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