What is a Migraine Headache?
A migraine is a headache that can cause severe throbbing pain or a pulsing sensation, usually on one side of the head. It mostly affects the Frontal, temporal and ocular area of the brain, and will expand to the posterior side of the head then to the neck region.
The migraine headache gets severe within 1-2 hours.
The headache may last more than 4 hours to 72 hours.
What does a Migraine feel like?
The pain of a migraine headache can be intense. Migraines aren’t the same for all people. Possible symptoms of migraines are listed below. You may have a “premonition” several hours before your headache begins. Premonitions are feelings you get that can tell a migraine attack is coming. These feelings can include fatigue, food cravings, thirst, and mood changes.
Symptoms of a migraine attack:
Dizziness
loss of appetite
Vomiting
Raised pulse rate
Raised B.P.
Redness of eye
Migraine aura (flashy lights visions)
What causes a migraine?
Firstly, this type of headache can be triggered by many factors.
Physical triggers:
Lack of sleep
Tiredness
Hypoglycemia (deficiency of glucose in blood)
Excessive exercise can precipitate migraine.
Dehydration.
Missed meals and not having proper diet
Tea, alcohol, Red wine, Citrus fruits can precipitate migraine
Emotional triggers:
Anxiety.
Mental stress.
Excitement.
Depression.
Other triggers:
Bright light.
Loud noise.
Strong smell.
Changes in climate.
What action should you take during a Migraine attack?
Find a calm environment
At the first sign of a migraine, retreat from your usual activities if possible.
Minimize the lights. Migraines often increase sensitivity to light and sound. Relax in a dark, quiet room. Sleep if you can.
Try temperature therapy. Apply hot or cold compresses to your head or neck. Ice packs have a numbing effect, which may dull the sensation of pain. Hot packs and heating pads can relax tense muscles. Warm showers or baths may have a similar effect.
Drink a caffeinated beverage. In small amounts, caffeine alone can relieve migraine pain in the early stages or enhance the pain-reducing effects of acetaminophen (Tylenol, others). Drinking too much caffeine too often can lead to withdrawal headaches later on.
Sleep well.
Migraines may keep you from falling asleep or wake you up at night. Likewise, migraines are often triggered by a poor night's sleep.
Eat wisely
Your eating habits can influence your migraines. Consider the basics:
Be consistent. Eat at about the same time every day.
Don't skip meals. Fasting increases the risk of migraines.
Keep a food journal. Keeping track of the foods you eat and when you experience migraines can help identify potential food triggers.
Avoid foods that trigger migraines. If you suspect that a certain food — such as aged cheese, chocolate, caffeine or alcohol — is triggering your migraines, eliminate it from your diet to see what happens.
What else can I do to prevent migraines?
(A) Breathing: (This should take about 5 minutes.)
Sit in a relaxed posture, cross your legs, sit on a chair, whatever works for you. Back should be straight, and the neck should be in line with the spine, neither bobbing forward, nor going behind. Though not ideal, you can lie down too. Basically, you have to be in this position for 5 minutes with minimum movement of your body, so assume posture accordingly.
The way nature has it, at any given point, we tend to breathe more freely from one nostril compared to another. You are now going to check which nostril you are breathing less freely from. There are two ways to do this.
1) Counting the time taken for a breath:
Close your eyes. Take a couple of normal breaths.
Close your right nostril with a finger. No forceful distortion of the nose, just gently close the right nostril.
Inhale and exhale from the left nostril.
Now, the next time you inhale, count the time your inhalation takes. You can count seconds, or just count as you would in a gym to hold a posture. The point is to keep the count more-or-less rhythmic.
Next, count in the same rhythm for the left-nostril exhalation.
Remember these counts.
Now close your left nostril, open the right and count the right nostril inhalation and exhalation in the same manner.
Your breath will be shorter from one nostril. This is the nostril you will breath from for the next 10-15 breaths or how much you can without exhausting yourself.
2) Mirror test:
Hold a mirror very close to your nose.
Breathe out slowly on to the mirror.
Immediately check for the two condensation marks left by your breath on the mirror.
One side will be smaller than the other.
The nostril that made the smaller mark is the one that is congested.
This is the nostril you will breathe from for the next 10-15 breaths or how much you can without exhausting yourself.
(B) Exercises: (This should take all of max 5-7 minutes)
Forehead Roll
Kneel down.
Place your toes on toes and spread your heels apart, to make a V with your feet.
Sit on this V. The heels should be wide enough for you to sit comfortably.
Now bend forward placing your forehead on the floor. Your palms will be along both sides of your head.
Your hips might leave your heels and you might come up a bit, that's ok.
Roll your forehead from side to side slowly, very slowly, such that your temples (both sides of your heads) touch the floor alternately.
Roll for about 8-10 times (one roll would have one round of having rolled to both sides and back to center. So, center of forehead - right temple - center - left temple - center is one round.)
Come up, take a breather. Release your legs if they feel stiff.
Crown/Top-of-the-head Roll:
Go back to the same sitting position.
This time bring the top of your head, the crown (or what we call 'takla' in Hindi) on the floor.
Make sure your throat and neck are relaxed.
Now roll your head extremely slowly, such that you go to one side of the crown, in the same plane, however much ever you can. Come back to the center. Roll to the other side. Come back to the center.
This completes one round.
Do 8-10 of these rolls.
Forward and Backward Neck Rolls:
You can do this sitting or standing.
Exhale, slowly move head forward, try to get the chin to touch the chest.
Inhale, bend your head as far back as you can.
In the extreme position of forward/backward bend, feel the stretch in the front and back muscles of your neck.
Do 8-10 rounds slowly.
Side-to-side Neck Rolls:
Exhale, slowly turn your head to left such that your left chin is parallel to the left shoulder. Do it in such a way that the neck is in line with the spine.
Inhale, slowly return to center.
Exhale, slowly turn your head to the right the same way.
Inhale, slowly return to center
This makes one round.
Do 10 rounds.
(Reference www.quora.com)
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