Understanding Migraine Headache Causes Will Help With Future Treatments

By Carly on Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Filled Under: Migraine Articles

Many doctors believe that people commonly mistake a migraine headache for a sinus headache. This can be because migraine headache causes can be similar to what most people think causes sinus headaches.

One of the migraine headache causes people commonly mistake for sinus headache causes is the weather. The change in air pressure causes many people to have migraine headaches, some people are so sensitive to this change that even high humidity can change cause migraine headaches.

Food Sensitivities

Food sensitivities can also cause migraine headaches. Common foods are dairy products, artificial sweeteners, chocolate, alcohol, processed meat products (lunch meat, hot dogs), caffeine, and most fatty foods.

For a person to determine if their migraine headache cause is food related there are simple tests that can help to make this clear. A doctor may suggest omitting the suspect food from the person’s diet for a set amount of time or keeping a food and headache diary, recording what foods the person eats and which of those days headaches occur to try to establish a pattern.

Environmental Factors

Some migraine headache causes are from a person’s surroundings such as bright lights, strong smells or rhythmic motion. There are many external migraine headache causes which people cannot always avoid, these people may be able to take some precautions such as wearing sun glasses or taking an over the counter motion sickness medication if the nausea leads to headaches when traveling.

Mental Stress

Stress is a common cause of migraine headaches. Many people have anxiety from situations in the work place, at home, with family, and many other situations which lead to severe headaches.

Depression has also been linked as a possible migraine headache cause; when people suffer from depression they tend to use extra stimulants such as coffee or nicotine to compensate for their moods which can also cause migraine headaches. Some people also tend to consume alcohol when they are depressed to cope with their feelings. An excess of alcohol is also a known cause of migraine headaches.

Physical Causes

A disruption in a person’s normal sleeping pattern can also be one of a migraine headache’s causes, every person’s body requires a unique amount of sleep, for most people that is between six and nine hours each night. When a person has trouble sleeping it can affect their whole next day by plaguing them with severe head pain, nausea, and sensitivity to light or sound.

This can also be true if a person is getting too much sleep either all at once or by napping throughout the day. Most people thrive on sleeping for a set amount of time each day waking and sleeping at the same times, for some migraine headache sufferers regulating their sleeping pattern could reduce their occurrence of headaches immensely.

There are many more migraine headache causes, if a person thinks they may be suffering from migraine headaches, they should consult a doctor. No one should suffer with migraine pain because there are so many medications, some with very rare and mild side effects which can help migraines last less than an hour instead of hours or days which are common to some sufferers.

Ann Marier has written articles on general health issues providing helpful tips and advice. Read all about her latest articles on types of headache and how to stop headaches by identifying the causes.

Ocular Migraine: A Basic Understanding

By Carly on Friday, June 25, 2010
Filled Under: Migraine Articles

Migraines are a neurological disorder of the brain. There are many different types of migraine. One of them is Ocular Migraine or known as Acephalalgic Migraine. The different types of migraine are classified according to the symptoms that a sufferer experience and their causes.

Ocular Migraine is a neurological syndrome characterized by abnormal visual sensations, sometimes accompanied by headaches, nausea and vomiting. In some cases, the person may feel heightened sensitivity to sound and light at the early stages of the attack. This type of migraine is generally seen in people with a history of classical migraine.

Like other migraines, ocular migraine spells occur repeatedly and irregularly. That is, patients may experience many spells of ocular migraine within a week and nothing at all for months on end. The spells may last from 15-30 min in general.

Ocular migraine is to be distinguished with classical migraine or migraine with aura. In classical migraines, the aura can be a visual sensation (called visual aura) or something non-visual such as smell, dizziness, vertigo, parasthesia, or extremities. Generally aura is experienced by the patient after the prodrome, 10-30 minutes before the onset of the headache. Statistics show that nearly 20% of the migraineurs experiences aura.

Like in other migraines, the exact cause of ocular migraine is still a topic of debate. The most nearest and convincing explanation is that it is caused due to vascular spasm that affects the ocular blood vessel supplying blood to the vision center in the brain. Changes in the blood flow in the vessels cause the severe throbbing or pounding effects of headache.

It is believed that ocular migraine is triggered by over stress, oral contraceptives, premenstrual changes, alcohol, and certain victuals such as chocolate, red wine, chicken livers, meats preserved in nitrates, and milk.

As mentioned earlier, the most notable symptom of ocular migraine is the unusual visual sensations that block the normal vision to a large extent during the spell. At the earlier stages of an ocular migraine episode, the patient may experience a visual disturbance in his/her peripheral vision, mostly in the form of a jagged, shimmering, semicircular light, pale pastel in color. Within minutes, it expands and becomes more centric to the area of vision, leading to temporary patchy vision loss. Eventually, in another 15-30 minutes, the zigzag pattern travels outwards of the visual field and soon out of the side vision before disappearing completely, leaving the field of view clear again.

After the episode, the patient may feel fatigued and with/without a mild headache, but the eye sight will be normal as it was before.

Ocular migraines, in most instances, do not require any treatment. But the doctor may diagnose the patient to ensure that there is no serious blood flow issue.

In some cases, doctors may prescribe some painkiller to contain the following headache, if the pain is unbearable for the patient. But such instances are very rare.

Tail Piece: Even though it is true that ocular migraines can be controlled to an extent by adjusting the diet and reducing stress, it cannot be prevented or cured forever. Once an ocular migraine episode starts, the patient will have no choice, but to see himself/herself through those grueling 30 minutes, preferably with a calm mind. There is no use in panicking or getting worried. Relaxation techniques can be put to good use at this stage.

Looking for a Natural Headache Remedy or Remedies for your splitting headache? Get information on an arsenal of non-drug treatment options and a free report here at Natural Headache Remedies.

Ocular Migraine: A Basic Understanding

By Carly on Friday, June 25, 2010
Filled Under: Migraine Articles

Migraines are a neurological disorder of the brain. There are many different types of migraine. One of them is Ocular Migraine or known as Acephalalgic Migraine. The different types of migraine are classified according to the symptoms that a sufferer experience and their causes.

Ocular Migraine is a neurological syndrome characterized by abnormal visual sensations, sometimes accompanied by headaches, nausea and vomiting. In some cases, the person may feel heightened sensitivity to sound and light at the early stages of the attack. This type of migraine is generally seen in people with a history of classical migraine.

Like other migraines, ocular migraine spells occur repeatedly and irregularly. That is, patients may experience many spells of ocular migraine within a week and nothing at all for months on end. The spells may last from 15-30 min in general.

Ocular migraine is to be distinguished with classical migraine or migraine with aura. In classical migraines, the aura can be a visual sensation (called visual aura) or something non-visual such as smell, dizziness, vertigo, parasthesia, or extremities. Generally aura is experienced by the patient after the prodrome, 10-30 minutes before the onset of the headache. Statistics show that nearly 20% of the migraineurs experiences aura.

Like in other migraines, the exact cause of ocular migraine is still a topic of debate. The most nearest and convincing explanation is that it is caused due to vascular spasm that affects the ocular blood vessel supplying blood to the vision center in the brain. Changes in the blood flow in the vessels cause the severe throbbing or pounding effects of headache.

It is believed that ocular migraine is triggered by over stress, oral contraceptives, premenstrual changes, alcohol, and certain victuals such as chocolate, red wine, chicken livers, meats preserved in nitrates, and milk.

As mentioned earlier, the most notable symptom of ocular migraine is the unusual visual sensations that block the normal vision to a large extent during the spell. At the earlier stages of an ocular migraine episode, the patient may experience a visual disturbance in his/her peripheral vision, mostly in the form of a jagged, shimmering, semicircular light, pale pastel in color. Within minutes, it expands and becomes more centric to the area of vision, leading to temporary patchy vision loss. Eventually, in another 15-30 minutes, the zigzag pattern travels outwards of the visual field and soon out of the side vision before disappearing completely, leaving the field of view clear again.

After the episode, the patient may feel fatigued and with/without a mild headache, but the eye sight will be normal as it was before.

Ocular migraines, in most instances, do not require any treatment. But the doctor may diagnose the patient to ensure that there is no serious blood flow issue.

In some cases, doctors may prescribe some painkiller to contain the following headache, if the pain is unbearable for the patient. But such instances are very rare.

Tail Piece: Even though it is true that ocular migraines can be controlled to an extent by adjusting the diet and reducing stress, it cannot be prevented or cured forever. Once an ocular migraine episode starts, the patient will have no choice, but to see himself/herself through those grueling 30 minutes, preferably with a calm mind. There is no use in panicking or getting worried. Relaxation techniques can be put to good use at this stage.

Looking for a Natural Headache Remedy or Remedies for your splitting headache? Get information on an arsenal of non-drug treatment options and a free report here at Natural Headache Remedies.

Understanding Your Migraine Headache Triggers

By Carly on Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Filled Under: Migraine Articles

Migraine headaches are a type of headache resulting in pain so severe that it can be disabling. Typically, migraine headaches are accompanied by other symptoms, such as nausea, vomiting, and sensitivity to both light and noise. There are many different causes attributed to migraine headaches, and these migraine headache triggers can affect just about anyone.

All you have to do for proof is examine the statistics. In America alone, over twenty-eight million people suffer from migraine headaches. Migraine headaches are more common in women; for every one man who suffers from a migraine headache, there are three women.

Migraines and migraine headache triggers have become somewhat easier to manage than they used to be. Often times, you can just examine the migraine headache triggers and determine which aspect of your life is the cause of your migraine headaches. Once you know which migraine headache triggers relate to your situation, it will become easier to find a treatment.

What Are the Most Common Migraine Headache Triggers?

Of all the migraine headache triggers, the most common one is stress. Another common trigger of migraines is certain foods, such as alcohol, aged cheeses, chocolate, aspartame, caffeine, msg, seasonings, and some canned or processed foods. Migraines can also be caused by fasting or skipping meals.

Physical factors such as increased sexual activity, intense exercise, or a change in sleep patterns are also migraine headache triggers. Changes in the environment and certain medications often act as triggers of migraine headaches, as do sun glare and bright lights. Hormonal changes can also cause migraines, and this may be why a significantly greater number of women than men are affected by migraines. Some women experience migraines during pregnancy or menopause.

Are You at Risk?

There are several risk factors that make someone more prone to migraine headaches. Migraine headaches most commonly occur in girls that have already passed through puberty. Women who experience migraines find that their likelihood of experiencing one increases during menstruation, pregnancy, or menopause. Migraine headaches also run in families; if even one of your parents’ experiences migraines then you are much more likely to develop them yourself.

Treating Migraine Headaches

Although previously, the only way to treat migraine headaches was to take aspirin, this is no longer the case. Now, there are both preventative medications and pain-relieving medications that are intended specifically for migraine treatment. There are also other alternative treatments, such as acupuncture, massage, vitamins, herbs, minerals, and biofeedback. Migraine headaches can be prevented by maintaining a healthy, balanced lifestyle.

Ann Marier has written articles on general health questions providing helpful tips and advice. Read all about her latest articles on types of headache and how to stop headaches by identifying the causes.

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