Migraine Headaches; What They Are, and What You Can Do About Them

This week I'll be writing about migraine headaches. 

What are Migraine headaches:

www.epainassist.com

Migraines are intense headaches characterized by a pulsing or throbbing sensation in one area of the head.They affect between 15-20% of men and 25-30% of women. Migraine headaches are caused by excessive dilation of blood vessels in the head. 

Migraines are often accompanied by nausea, vomiting, extreme sensitivity to light and sound, and visual disturbances known as auras. The images below were found on migraine.com and migraine-aura.com.



These auras often precede the onset of pain suffered during a migraine. They may include flashes of light, blind spots, and tingling in extremities. Migraine attacks can last for several hours to a few days evolving in severity throughout their duration.

What can you do about a migraine?

Due to its complex nature, a multi-faceted approach is often required to successfully improve severity and frequency of migraine headaches.

The primary treatment focus should be:

• elimination of food sensitivities
• optimization of serotonin levels
• enhancement of micronutrient status – specifically magnesium, calcium, vitamin B2 & vitamin B6.

Tomorrow we'll look at general recommendations to reduce migraines, on Wednesday I'll post foods to remove from your diet, on Thursday foods to increase, Friday will be supplements and I'll finish on Saturday with helpful herbs.