Migraine is a disease in the nervous system in which there is a severe headache, sometimes followed by nausea and sensitivity to light and sound. The pain during a migraine is a specific part of the head which can vary in intensity.
Migraine can affect people of every age group while women are more likely to have migraines than men. The diagnosis of migraine is a clinical thing.
Migraine runs in families and can affect the members. Family history is one of the most common causes of migraines. The person might suffer from migraines since childhood or not even in early adulthood.
Migraine is a medical condition and the person having symptoms must consult the doctor.
Causes of migraine
Exact causes of migraine are not clear but experts believe anything that affects the brain and change the functioning of the nervous system can cause migraine. Some common causes of migraine triggers are mentioned below.
1. Family history
If someone in the family has a migraine, then it is common that other members of the family may suffer from migraines. It is one of the most common causes of migraines.
2. Drinks
Lot of drinking habits, having caffeine in high amounts, and wines can cause migraines.
3. Improper sleep
Sleeping properly is really important for the proper functioning of the body and organs. If you sleep less or sleep more you likely to have caused the migraine. That is why it is important to have a proper sleep of 6-8 hours every day.
4. Hormonal changes
This is one of the most common causes of migraine among women. When women face hormonal changes during menstruation, puberty, and adolescence, women are more prone to migraines.
5. Emotional imbalances
When you feel emotionally low, or you face anxiety, depression, excitement, and shock you are prone to develop a migraine.
6. Physical factors
When you have the feeling of tiredness, lack of sleep, shoulder or neck pain, improper posture, dehydration, jetlag, low blood sugar levels, you are vulnerable to migraines.
7. Intake
High intake of caffeine, chocolates, cheese, citrus fruits, and foods that have addictive ingredients within them can cause migraines.
8. Medicine
Some birth control pills, sleeping pills, and hormone replacement therapy can cause migraines.
9. Environmental factors
Watching TV for really long, flickering screens, flickering lights, and anything that affects the eyes can cause your migraine. Stuffed rooms, harmful smoke, temperature changes, and bright lights can cause migraines.
10. Diseases
Some existing diseases like bipolar disorders, irritable bowel syndrome, obsessive-compulsive disorders, fibromyalgia, and an overactive bladder can cause migraines.
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Symptoms of migraine
There are four different stages of migraine- prodrome, aura, the headache, and postdrome. The symptoms of all stages are different.
1. Prodrome
Before some days or hours of migraine, 60% of the patient’s face prodrome, and symptoms of prodrome are as follows.
a. Being sensitive
The person becomes sensitive to light, sound, and smell.
b. Changes in eating habits
The person starts losing their appetite or develops cravings.
c. Mood swings
People face a lot of mood swings. They get angry or happy within no time.
d. Fatigue
Constant tiredness is present among people.
e. Digestion related problems
Diarrhea, constipation, and bloating get a place in life.
2. Aura
This stage is witnessed by some neurological events and also involves vision. The symptoms here involve the following.
a. Hallucinations
The victims start seeing black dots, zigzag lines, flashes of light, or other things that actually aren’t present there.
b. Problem while speaking
Many people face problem while speaking, they aren’t able to speak properly and clearly.
c. Vision
The ability to see things clearly is either completely lost or partially.
d. Uneasy body parts
There is a constant feeling of heaviness in arms and legs.
e. Ringing in ears
You feel a constant ringing sound in your ears which really irritates.
3. Headache
This often begins with a dull and then converts into throbbing pain. The pain is usually on one side and it can shift the sides. The pain gets worst when you carry on some physical activity.
Along with the headache many people witness nausea, and feel like vomiting, and also you can feel like fainting.
Experts believe that the migraine headache commonly lasts up to four hours and in some severe cases it goes up to 3 days. It’s common if you get the attacks of headaches two to four times a month, some of them get the pain in a few days and some not even once a year.
4. Postdrome
This is the last stage that lasts up to one or two days after the headache. The symptoms of this stage include the following.
a. Tiredness
After having the headache attack victims feel tired and fatigue up to two days after the pain.
b. Changes in food habit
There is a change in eating habits as a loss of appetite or unusual cravings can be developed.
c. Happy feeling
After getting the attack people to feel unusually refreshed and happy.
d. Pain
You can feel pain in muscles and weaknesses after having the attack.
Types of migraine
There are mainly two types of Migraines- migraine with aura( complex type) and migraine without aura( common type) and then there are some other types.
1. Migraine with aura( complex one)
The aura is a stage of migraine where you have symptoms like hallucinations, lack of speech, and ringing in the years. This type of migraine can be seen in 1 out of 4 people and it requires a lot of care and urgent medication.
2. Migraine without aura (the common one)
In this type of migraine, the victim does not feel the visual changes and neurological events. This is a common type and diagnosis of this type is difficult as the symptoms are common to other types i.e. throbbing pain on one side of head and nausea.
3. Hemiplegic migraine
This type of migraine makes one side of the body weak and it feels more like a stroke. This comes with the symptoms of aura, and ringing sound in the year, it constantly feels like pinning sensation. It doesn’t always come with a severe headache, but this can last for a short time as a few hours and a long time as some days.
4. Retinal migraine
As the name suggests it has something to do with the retina. It makes you temporarily lose your vision in one eye. It is most common among women during their childbearing days and loss of vision can be for a few minutes or some days but it is fully reversible, vision returns back. Retinal migraine is an indication of some serious issues and that you must consult a specialist.
5. Chronic migraine
In this type of migraine, the comes more often in a month, that is you suffer almost 15 days with pain. The pain may be normal somedays but it may be severe sometimes. People sometimes take this as a normal pain or normal headache and take normal medicine as the pain is not severe. This causes the pain even more often.
6. Cluster headache
It is one of the most severe pain that one can feel. It feels like a burning sensation over your eyes, and back of the head. You will also sometimes have a red runny nose or swollen eyes.
Treatment of migraine
The treatment of migraine heavily depends on its type and the intensity of pain. Commonly the following points can be followed for the treatment.
1. Self-care
You can avoid doing the things that cause migraine-like drinking, improper sleeping, stressing, medicines that have side effects, and other things that cause the pain.
These are the preventive measures one can take.
2. Medicines
If the case is severe and uncontrollable by normal medicines, one should consult a doctor. The medicines involve antipsychotic pills, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory pills, nerve pain medication, and analgesic.
3. Therapies
One can go for therapies that relax the mind and body. The therapies include progressive muscle relaxation and acupuncture.
This was everything one needs to know about migraines.