Migraine Headache

About 40 million Americans, that is approximately 10% of the American population has experienced Migraine.

The special feature of the migraine headache is that you don't get it daily. You suffer from it once or twice in a week. Women get it three times more than men. Its attack is severe and accompanied by unbearable pain. In the extreme cases, the pain can even disable the affected person.

When you have the attack of the migraine, you are very sensitive to light. You suffer from vomiting and nausea. Some migraine patients suffer from an aura. This is no divine aura. However the aura is due to a disturbance in the vision. The aura consists of sparkling and blinking lights that constantly move across your field of vision.

The pain is so severe that it is natural for the migraine sufferer to seek solace in over the counter medications. The most common over the counter medications include aspirin, acetaminophen, or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like ibuprofen. The prescribed migraine medicines are ergotamines or triptans.

To counter the migraine pain in the most effective way you need to make a total treatment plan with your doctor. The plan will not only ensure that you know the ways for treating the symptoms but it will also reduce the severity and frequency of your headaches.

The best method to treat migraine is to make use of a combination of treatment options. You need to follow lifestyle changes or adopt some alternative treatment methods along with the prescribed medications to get the complete headache relief.

Now to use alternative methods, put an ice pack on the back of your neck at the bottom of the skull. This will lessen the blood flow to the head. You will get instant relief from the throbbing migraine pain. At the same time, put your feet in a hot water container. The principle involved is the same.

Next, eat healthy food only. The foods that trigger migraine should be avoided. Fix your diet schedule in consultation with your doctor. Finding and avoiding food items that cause headache is one way to reduce the symptoms.

Monitor your lifestyle patterns and eating habits. Adopting good habits such as quitting smoking, cutting on excessive alcohol intake and eating right food will definitely help you reduce your pain. Be at ease with stress and stress stimulators in your life. And have a nice sleep everyday.