compare your views and be more aware of your migraine problem. These
groups offer huge moral support and guidance too as you realize that you
are not the lone person fighting an unending battle.
10.
Take good care of your overall health. This may prevent many
migraine attacks. Do not create difficult goals or deadlines. Wear
sunglasses and other shaded glasses to protect your eyes from the glare
of sunlight or other light too. Do not become tense with the small things in
life as such incidents are a part of our lives. Take things in your stride and
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deal with them daily. Do not carry forward your misgivings, emotions, or
other stress. Live in day-tight compartments.
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14. Migraine Headaches and Sleep Apnea
Sleep Apnea is a major cause for a migraine. Sleep Apnea is a sleep disorder
that keeps you from getting the proper sleep which you need. Common
symptoms include loud snoring and awakening in the middle of the night,
tiredness and overall lethargy.
Instead, you sleep excessively during the daytime. The effects of such irregular
sleep patterns are headaches, weight gain, impotency, slow healing, poor
temperament and other health issues.
Lack of proper and adequate sleep denies the necessary rest for your body. You
are less alert, develop bad moods and cognitive performance levels are low. You
suffer from persistent migraine headaches, which sometimes last for a whole day
or more.
Sometimes, you experience a sharp pain shooting from the base of your skull to
your temples and forehead. This may be the warning signals of a severe
migraine attack.
The best way to counter-attack against such sleep disorders is to seek
professional medical advice. You could also benefit from making behavioral and
lifestyle changes in your daily routine.
Nasal Continuous Positive Air Pressure (CPAP) masks can help resolve your
sleep apnea problems by providing sufficient oxygen during your sleep. Doctors
could also conduct a study of your sleep to record body movements and
disturbances in sleep.
These studies help doctors to diagnose the core problem and administer suitable
remedies. Curing sleep apnea can relieve your migraine headaches which result
from such apnea.
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Part-V: Natural Remedies for Migraine headaches
15. Natural Remedies to Prevent
or Ease Migraine Headaches
There are many medicines designed to alleviate your migraine pain. These
medicines try to eradicate the pain but the pain-causing elements remain in your
constitution. So, you might experience the same type of migraine again.
Natural remedies may prove to be the long-term solution for your migraine pain
or ease your migraine pain. A migraine is often due to certain food triggers
consumed during the twenty-four hours before the migraine. Maintaining a diary
to record your migraine pain, time of their occurrences along with details of your food intake can help you focus on possible suspects.
Many people develop adverse reactions to dairy products. Therefore, reducing or
doing away with milk or butter may bring in positive results. Foods containing
sulfites and nitrites, like meat, chocolate, caffeine and red wine can also trigger a migraine attack. These dilate your blood capillaries and increase blood flow to
brain. This leads to migraine headaches.
Drink ginger tea to reduce the effects of nausea during a migraine attack.
Intake of two to four grams of ginger daily is good for your health.
Acupuncture promotes stimulation across the channels of energy throughout
your body.
Acupuncture specialists can administer proper treatment by massaging with
forefinger and thumbs. This may offer good relief from your migraine headaches.
Inhaling essential oils like Rosemary, Lavender, and Jasmine can lessen migraine
headaches.
Magnetic necklaces seem also to offer relief for some people.
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16. Treating Migraine Headaches with Acupressure
Sometimes, alternative therapies are effective in treating migraine headaches.
Acupressure is one such treatment method that uses the concept of application
of pressure to specific points on the body to relieve pain. Acupressure is based
on the ancient Chinese system of healing.
To relieve pain, you must use your fingers and thumb to massage the pressure
points on the head, around the eyes, at the base of the neck and on the temples.
You can massage with your thumbs at the base of the skull for a few minutes,
with your head held back slightly.
You can massage at these specific pressure points for symptomatic relief.
Massaging the GB20 point may give relief from neck pain and migraine
headaches. For the full effect of this massage, you must sit on the chair with
your thumbs pressing the GB20 points located at the base of the head, at some
distance from the center of the neck.
This point is located at the base of the skull where it joins the neck and back. It is used in the treatment of acute disorders, such as the common cold, influenza,
headache, neck pain, and fever. It may lower blood pressure and relaxes tension
in the area of the eyes.
You can put pressure, using your thumb, on the Lv 3 point, which is the space
between the big toe and the second toe. You must repeat this for a few minutes
for both feet.
In the book, ‘Modern Clinic Necessities for Acupuncture and Moxibustion’ by
Zhang Ren and Dong Zhi Lin, you can learn about the different areas that you
can press to gain relief.
Some people have experienced almost instant relief by pressing hard on the
fleshy point between their thumb and index finger for a few minutes.
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You must first become familiar with all the pressure points on the body and know
which points to press to treat the various types of migraine headaches.
Once you learn the points, breathe deeply and do not massage for more than a
few minutes at a time. Acupressure may help in treatment of migraine
headaches.
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17. Treating Migraine Headaches with Massage Therapy
There are specific points at the base of the neck and the temples that are
believed by some practitioners to be trigger points of migraine headaches.
Massaging these trigger points can help relieve some of the pain of migraine
headaches. When the pain subsides, the person can sleep better and this helps
them to cope better with migraine headaches. When undergoing a massage,
remember to be gentle.
If you experience any pain, stop immediately.
Always get a massage from a trained professional with the proper qualifications,
to avoid injury.
The basis of massage treatment is healing by touch. Hence, masseurs mostly use
their hands and feet for the massage. Masseurs use carefully applied pressure to
relieve the pressure on the trigger points and to bring respite to the individual.
A massage is beneficial because it improves blood circulation and digestion and
helps those with hypertension. To start with, you must undergo a massage a few
times a week for about two months.
There are different systems of massage therapy, each with its benefits.
Reflexology believes in massaging specific points on the soles of the feet that
correspond to the different areas of the body, to give relief from the pain of
migraine headaches.
Other massages include a head massage to soothe the nerves of the brain that
send the impulses of pain. You can undergo an acupressure massage or a deep
tissue massage, depending on the intensity of your pain. An individual suffering
from migraine headaches may benefit from massage therapy, provided a
qualified person does the massage.
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18. Treating Migraine Headaches with Detoxification
Today we lead stressful lives and pay little attention to leading a healthy life.
We eat junk food in large quantities, since nobody has time to cook nutritious
food. As a result, we ingest many toxins through the food and the environment.
The body has a mechanism for eliminating these substances. However, when we
abuse our body by over consumption of junk food, the level of the toxins
increases and the body cannot function properly, leading to an increase in
toxicity.
These poisonous substances may help to cause diseases like cancer or other
lifestyle diseases like obesity and heart disease.
In such a scenario, it is a good idea to undergo a detoxification program to
cleanse the body and the soul. The detoxification involves elimination of waste
products through the body by consuming a light diet of fruits and vegetables or
totally keeping off food for a day. Detoxification can lead to a healthier lifestyle and peace of mind that can minimize occurrence of migraine headaches.
You must adopt a detoxification program based on your needs and follow the
natural seasonal cycle for this. Include natural organic foods and consume a lot
of water. Do not use allopathic medicines for any ailment, but go for naturopathy
or a homeopathic system of medicines. Consult a qualified naturopath for a
suitable detoxification plan if you are not confident of doing this yourself.
Initially, you may experience weakness but, with determination, you can undergo
a detoxification successfully.
Detoxification introduces you to a healthier lifestyle. Undergoing this process
helps you feel light and free of stress. This, in turn, minimizes the trigger factors of migraine headaches and may bring some relief.
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19. Treating Migraine Headaches with Herbs
Herbal remedies for treating migraine headaches may be effective and some
people claim that they have no side effects. These herbs act over a period of
time and one must take them as a preventive remedy, not while experiencing
migraine headaches.
You must consult a naturopath to get information about the correct dosage and
the form in which to consume the herb. Only take these herbs under your
doctor’s supervision if you are taking medicines regularly, to avoid any
adverse reaction.
The most popular herb to treat migraine headaches is feverfew. Other useful herbs are ginger, peppermint, willow, gingko biloba and passionflower. You can
consume these herbs as a nasal spray or in the form of a light tea.
Avoid peppermint if you suffer from acidity.
Gingko improves blood circulation to the brain and may relieve a migraine.
However, it can react unfavorably with aspirin, so never take the two together.
Pepper or capsaicin inhales as a nasal spray improves pain tolerance and can
prevent cluster headaches.
You can use herbal oil to massage your head and temples to get relief from the
headache.
When undergoing herbal treatment, be sure to consume pure extracts sourced
from a proper store. Always ensure that you are not allergic to any of the herbs
to avoid future complications.
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20. Treating Migraine Headaches with Acupuncture
Acupuncture is a system of pain relief based on the use of needles to stimulate
the nervous system. Acupuncture can be a preventive therapy in migraine
treatment.
Acupuncture must be limited to the arms and legs and never performed on the
neck and head region.
The treatment involves inserting needles at several pressure points so that the
blood flow in this region increases. The acupuncturist adjusts the needles
manually or by electrical stimulation. This helps in preventing migraine
headaches and is most effective when done in the sitting position.
Be sure to undergo this treatment at the hands of a qualified acupuncturist, to
avoid mishaps. Ensure that the needles used for the procedure are hygienic.
Puncturing at the wrong points can cause a lung collapse that can be fatal for the patient. Unhygienic needles can cause infections and, in severe cases, lead to
hepatitis.
Acupuncture stimulates the hypothalamus and helps control the nerves that
cause the sensation of pain. It is intended to restore the balance of energy in an individual’s body, so that he gets a reprieve from migraine headaches.
Another explanation for the efficacy of acupuncture is that the treatment releases opioids that have a palliative effect.
Researchers are conducting several studies to try to confirm the effectiveness of
acupressure in pain relief.
Practitioners believe that it can form an effective part of a person’s migraine
headache treatment by improving the flow of blood and proper stimulation of his
nervous system.
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21. Treating Migraine Headaches with Biofeedback
Different alternative systems may help in the holistic treatment of migraine
headaches. Biofeedback is one of them, where the individual masters the art of
controlling some of their body mechanisms. The person must undergo
comprehensive training with a qualified therapist for a few months before
venturing alone.
The first step in biofeedback is to relax your muscles and regulate your
breathing. The success of biofeedback depends on how well you can judge your
nervous system by reading the indication from your body temperature and
muscle tension.
By becoming aware of an impending tension, you can learn to relax and to
control your breathing, to minimize the stress. This is intended to prevent the
occurrence of migraine headaches.
You can start the training sessions for a few minutes several times a week. The
sessions involve the use of instruments to measure various body parameters that
indicate tension. Once you master the technique, you can start the biofeedback
mechanism yourself, without these aids.
Before the onset of a migraine, your hands will turn cold and you may start
sweating profusely. You can use biofeedback to think of pleasant things and learn
to calm down until your body temperature returns to normal.
You can use biofeedback as part of treatment of migraine headaches. The
advantage is that you minimize the intake of pain relievers as you gain control
over the symptoms of the migraine. Moreover controlling your senses is the first
step towards the effective management of migraine headaches.
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22. Treating Migraine Headaches with Exercise
It is necessary to exercise often to lead a healthy life. You must exercise for at least half an hour a few times a week. Exercising helps improve blood circulation, relieves tension in the muscles, and the fresh air is good for your health.
The simplest and least demanding exercise is walking. You can walk outdoors in
a park, away from the congestion of the city. If you have a busy schedule, you
can walk on the treadmill or exercise at home on an exercise bike.
You can become a member of a health club and workout a few times a week.
This takes some effort and involves an ongoing financial cost, but the healthy
lifestyle minimizes occurrence of migraine headaches.
If the weather is poor, do mall walks. Many people use the mall as a place to get their walks in the early morning.
Exercising releases endorphins that minimize the pain and thus reduces
occurrence of the migraines. You can try light aerobic exercises a few times a
week under a trained instructor. The workout must include a warm up, a twenty-
minute exercise session and a cooling down period. Many studies prove a direct
co-relation between regular exercising and a reduction in the number of migraine
attacks.
Mild neck exercises can provide relief as they improve circulation in the neck and head region. However, go to a licensed chiropractor to get the maximum benefit
from this treatment.
Setting up an exercise schedule just needs a little determination and some
investment. The results are very positive and can reduce your dependence on
drugs. Thus, it is worthwhile to exercise regularly to prevent migraine
headaches.
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23. Treating Migraine Headaches
with Vitamins and Supplements
Scientists have conducted several studies to prove that specific vitamins and
supplements provide relief from migraine headaches. Many supplements may be
effective as preventive agents but you must only take them under a doctor’s
guidance to ensure the correct dosage of these supplements and ensure there
are no harmful side effects.
Check for any adverse interactions with your regular medicines, before taking
these vitamins.
Here is a list of some supplements that some people believe are useful:
Magnesium, taken twice daily, may help to maintain the flexibility of the blood vessels and avoid migraines.
You can take Vitamin B to reduce the intensity of the headaches.
Fatty acids like gamma-linolenic (GLA) and alpha-linolenic (ALA) fatty acid minimize the occurrence of migraine headaches.
You can take l-arginine, useful in the synthesis of nitric oxide that is essential for proper movement of the arteries.
A combination of calcium and vitamin D may also reduce occurrence of
migraines.
A standard daily multi-vitamin capsule or tablet may be useful.
Vitamin C is present in citrus fruits seems to strengthen the blood vessels. Also, consuming foods that are rich in bioflavonoids are believed by some to aid the
absorption of Vitamin C.
Some people take fish oil capsules daily and claim that they get relief from
migraine headaches.
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Some compounds of feverfew and magnesium seem to be effective in
prevention of a migraine with some sufferers. Some people benefit from taking tryptophan in some form, as it has an effect on the serotonin in your body.
Serotonin plays many roles. It can have an effect on the blood vessels. When
serotonin levels are high, blood vessels constrict (shrink). When serotonin levels fall, the blood vessels dilate (swell). This swelling can cause pain or other
problems.
Many things can affect the level of serotonin in your body, including your level of blood sugar, certain foods and changes in your estrogen level if you're a woman.
These vitamins and supplements may be effective in treatment of migraine
headaches when taken over a period. One must have patience when taking
them.
If you experience any ill effects, immediately stop taking them.
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24. Treating Migraine Headaches
with Traditional Chinese Medicine
Traditional Chinese Medicine, or TCM, is a health care system according to the
age-old medical practices of China. This medical system has its roots in two
classic texts, ‘Nei Jing’ and ‘Nan Jing’, which were written between 100 B.C and
200 A.D.
TCM practitioners believe in the core concept that diseases are due to imbalances
in body energy levels. Therefore, TCM does not aim at curing a particular
ailment. Instead, it is a process to relieve your body of current imbalances and
assure body functioning in proper alignment with Nature.
TCM attempts effective relief for your migraine headaches. But the relief
obtained is not the same for any two persons suffering from a migraine even if
they exhibit similar symptoms.
TCM believes a migraine to be due to problems in your individual body
constitution. Therefore, traditional Chinese remedies do not offer any quick,
temporary relief from your migraine headaches. Rather, they determine the
imbalance causing factors and treat them. This changes your body responses to
such imbalances and you receive relief from future migraine pain.
Chinese medicine practitioners analyze your body constitution by conducting a
physical examination of your body parts like eyes, tongue, skin color, urinary and bowel movements, sleep and food patterns, and the like. The pulse and the look
of your tongue are tools for TCM practitioners to understand your biological
constitution.
They suggest remedies for your migraine after coordinating them with your
symptoms.
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25. Treating Migraine Headaches with Homeopathy
Homeopathy practitioners believe in treating migraine headaches by using
medicines made from natural ingredients. Always get this treatment under
consultation of a licensed homeopath for the best results.
A homeopath can diagnose your disease holistically and prescribe the correct
dosage accordingly. The following is a list of homeopathic medicines depending
on the different types of migraines.
Bryonia may be useful in treating a heavy headache on the left side of the head where the person cannot tolerate any movement and feels nauseous.
Belladonna is used to treat migraine headaches on the lower head and neck
region.
Gelsemium may be suitable for those who complain of weakness and affected
vision. Fear exacerbates this headache and it may