Migraine word came to light from the Greek word hemikrania which as a matter of fact means “half of the head” comforming the very unilateral nature of headache. It’s a severe headache which is often preceded with various apprehensiveness which hint the very onset of migraine better called as prodromal signals which might occur few hours to a day before the outbreak of migraine.
The various forewarnings include flash of light, blind spots, prickling of arms and legs, nausea, vomiting and step up receptiveness to sound and light better called as phonophobia and photophobia respectively. It comes about due to expansion of blood vessels and unloosing of chemicals from nerve fibers which are curled around these. The migraine affects adversely the normal process of food absorption, blood circulation and additional extension of blood artery.
Although migraine headache is a type of vascular headache yet it differs from other headache in various aspects. The main difference between migraine headache and other headaches is that more often than not, the headaches of different kinds as identified by The International Headache Society (IHS) occur on both the sides of head which is one of the decisive diagnostic differentials, differentiating non-migraine headaches from the migraine ones. Another asymmetry lies in the concurrence of certain premonition like nausea, vomiting, increased sensitivity to loud sound and light etc. in case of migraine headaches which are rare with non-migraine ones.
Migraine is equally common in both the sexes during childhood stage however with the onset of puberty the females become 3 times more vulnerable to it. Hormonal change in the fairer sex is often accounted for it.
There are different types of migraine which are categorized on the basis of symptoms they bring forth. Nevertheless two more common ones are migraine with aura and migraine without aura. Other kinds are as
follows:
- Abdominal migraine
- Basilar artery migraine
- Carotidynia or facial migraine
- Headache-free-migraine ( aura without migraine)
- Ophthalmologic migraine/ ocular migraine
- Status migrainosus which is of severe nature with a headache phase of 72 hours, whether it’s treated or not!
Causes Of Migraine
Specifically no prime movers responsible for triggering migraine has been identified yet there are some factors which are considered to play a role in furnishing the ground for migraine. Those causes are as follows:
- Family history with reference to finding out the migraine patient if any earlier. Thus role of heredity in passing off of migraine has encouraged researchers to locate “migraine gene” in hopefulness of finding the more effective treatment for migraine.
- Nervous tension
- Immoderate or moderate amount of sleep
- Certain medicines like vasodilators and oral contraceptives
- Smoking
- Foods and foods add-on like alcoholic beverages, caffeine, chocolates, manufactured sweeteners, monosodium glutamate (MSG), citrus fruits and meat with nitrites
- Exposure to phosphorescent or effulgent lighting
- Strong odors like perfumes, colognes, petroleum distillates etc.
- Hormonal alternations like menstruation (very common), pregnancy and ovulation
- Alterations in atmospheric conditions or time zones
- Metabolic or communicable diseases
- Cold stimulus as in case of ice cream headaches
- Allergies or hypersensitive reactions
- Hunger
There is wide variety of differences regarding the occurrence of symptoms of migraine which might present them a long ago before headache, just before the headache, during the headache and even after it. Although all the symptoms of migraine are not universal in nature yet there are certain typical ones which are as follows:
- Gentle to unsparing pain normally restricted to one side of head
- Experience of pain during any kind of physical activity
- Sickliness to do normal chores
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Increased responsiveness to light and sound
- Feebleness in an arm or leg or on one side of face
- The juice of fresh ripe grapes is acknowledged as one of efficient natural home remedies for migraine. To make use of it just grind fresh ripe grapes and drink without adding water to it.
- Consumption of Niacin vitamin rich foods also helps in beating migraine down. The sources include whole wheat, green leafy vegetables, nuts, sunflower seeds, liver and fish.
- Using cabbage foliage compress on forehead has been one of beneficial natural home remedies for migraine which should be applied on forehead for long period of time. Do keep on replacing cabbage compress when it starts getting dry.
- Application of lemon crust over forehead too is counted as one of cool natural home remedies for migraine which has received high regards from many patients of migraine.
- Vegetable juices too provide relief from the migraine. To put them to use you can utilize combo of spinach, cucumber and beet juice as per taste. Thus, you can take any one of the below mentioned combo of vegetable juices:
- 300ml of spinach plus 300ml of carrot juice
- 100ml of each of cucumber and beet along with 300ml of carrot juice
- Go for 10-12 almonds as it’s found to be very effective in overcoming migraine hence include it in your diet.
Stay away from the wheat flour products, canned foods, rich cakes, confectionaries, pastries, sweet cereals, greasy foods, pickles and sauces.
Prefer diet rich in fruits, nuts, milk, butter and vegetables.
Eat many meals of smaller quantity rather than fewer heavy ones.
Drink lots of water to ease down the digestion process.
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