Migraines affect as many as 400 million people worldwide.
Most migraine sufferers simply wait until the migraine headache arrives and then try to relieve it with painkillers.
However, by planning ahead it's often possible to reduce or avert the headache pain altogether.
Learning a few things ahead of time may help you relieve your pain without resorting to potentially harmful drugs.
Migraine is more than just a headache.
It can be accompanied by many symptoms that can occur before, during, or after the actual headache.
Common additional symptoms are nausea, vomiting, mood swings, depression, irritability, numbness, tingling, light sensitivity, and many others.
Migraine attacks occur in all age groups, but most often in female adults.
Women are three times more likely to experience migraines than men.
However, they can also appear in young children and senior citizens.
Most of the time the migraine disorder will disappear around age 50 or 55, but about 5% of people over the age of 70 will continue suffering with the disorder.
A certain percentage of migraines are brought on by triggers.
These can be all sorts of things like specific foods, alcohol, smoking, stress, dehydration, and even the weather.
There are many good ways to prevent migraines, but the standard methods that most people use to treat migraines without drugs are avoiding triggers and treating the symptoms.
Before a migraine trigger can be avoided it must be discovered.
You have to first know what factors are triggering your attacks before you can avoid the trigger.
The generally accepted way to find triggers is by maintaining a headache diary, also called a headache journal.
Unfortunately, most people do not keep a diary with the proper information and therefore miss many possible triggers.
Other conventional approaches for pain relief are massage, heat or ice, relaxation techniques, and many others.
Massaging sore areas, in particular the temples, can often bring about a sense of relaxation.
And anything you can do to relax can help reduce the pain.
Massaging the muscles of the neck and shoulders can also help as well as the area directly in front of the ears on the side of the head.
Lying down in a quiet dark room is another way to reduce symptoms through relaxation.
Migraine sufferers are often sensitive to light so a dark room can be very beneficial.
Additionally, loud noises and odors can also trigger or worsen a migraine so avoiding these can also help relieve the pain.
Acupressure is another method that some people use to alleviate the pain of a migraine attack.
Simply squeezing the fleshy part between the first finger and thumb can often bring about a reduction in migraine headache pain.
It may be necessary to do this for several minutes to get the full benefit.
Most migraine sufferers simply wait until the migraine headache arrives and then try to relieve it with painkillers.
However, by planning ahead it's often possible to reduce or avert the headache pain altogether.
Learning a few things ahead of time may help you relieve your pain without resorting to potentially harmful drugs.
Migraine is more than just a headache.
It can be accompanied by many symptoms that can occur before, during, or after the actual headache.
Common additional symptoms are nausea, vomiting, mood swings, depression, irritability, numbness, tingling, light sensitivity, and many others.
Migraine attacks occur in all age groups, but most often in female adults.
Women are three times more likely to experience migraines than men.
However, they can also appear in young children and senior citizens.
Most of the time the migraine disorder will disappear around age 50 or 55, but about 5% of people over the age of 70 will continue suffering with the disorder.
A certain percentage of migraines are brought on by triggers.
These can be all sorts of things like specific foods, alcohol, smoking, stress, dehydration, and even the weather.
There are many good ways to prevent migraines, but the standard methods that most people use to treat migraines without drugs are avoiding triggers and treating the symptoms.
Before a migraine trigger can be avoided it must be discovered.
You have to first know what factors are triggering your attacks before you can avoid the trigger.
The generally accepted way to find triggers is by maintaining a headache diary, also called a headache journal.
Unfortunately, most people do not keep a diary with the proper information and therefore miss many possible triggers.
Other conventional approaches for pain relief are massage, heat or ice, relaxation techniques, and many others.
Massaging sore areas, in particular the temples, can often bring about a sense of relaxation.
And anything you can do to relax can help reduce the pain.
Massaging the muscles of the neck and shoulders can also help as well as the area directly in front of the ears on the side of the head.
Lying down in a quiet dark room is another way to reduce symptoms through relaxation.
Migraine sufferers are often sensitive to light so a dark room can be very beneficial.
Additionally, loud noises and odors can also trigger or worsen a migraine so avoiding these can also help relieve the pain.
Acupressure is another method that some people use to alleviate the pain of a migraine attack.
Simply squeezing the fleshy part between the first finger and thumb can often bring about a reduction in migraine headache pain.
It may be necessary to do this for several minutes to get the full benefit.