OH MY ACHING HEAD
Headaches come in all sizes and descriptions. Sources of headaches include:
Toxic or drug induced
Tension or stress
Caffeine
Lack of sleep
Dehydration
musculoskeletal
Eye strain
Injury
Hormonal
Genetic predisposition
Vascular
but the Migraine tends to be the headache that is the most difficult to pinpoint and find a natural solution for.
What makes a headache a migraine? A migraine is a neurological, recurrent headache often described as moderate to severe. Oftentimes we think about migraines as being unilateral or on one side of the head but actually 40% of the episodes are on both sides of the head. It can be a band-like distribution kind of circling around the head, it's often described as pulsating in nature,and they can last from hours to days.
It affects up to 12% of the general population. It's more frequent in women than in men and it's more common in those aged 30 to 39.
Migraines are divided into the following Categories
Migraine with aura (complicated migraine): Around 15% to 20% of people with migraine headaches experience an aura.
Migraine without aura (common migraine): This type of migraine headache strikes without the warning an aura may give you. The symptoms are the same, but that phase doesn’t happen.
Migraine without head pain: “Silent migraine” or “acephalgic migraine,” as this type is also known as, includes the aura symptom but not the headache that typically follows.
Hemiplegic migraine: You'll have temporary paralysis (hemiplegia) or neurological or sensory changes on one side of your body. The onset of the headache may be associated with temporary numbness, extreme weakness on one side of your body, a tingling sensation, a loss of sensation and dizziness or vision changes. Sometimes it includes head pain and sometimes it doesn’t.
Retinal migraine (ocular migraine): You may notice temporary, partial or complete loss of vision in one of your eyes, along with a dull ache behind the eye that may spread to the rest of your head. That vision loss may last a minute, or as long as months. You should always report a retinal migraine to a healthcare provider because it could be a sign of a more serious issue.
Chronic migraine: A chronic migraine is when a migraine occurs at least 15 days per month. The symptoms may change frequently, and so may the severity of the pain. Those who get chronic migraines might be using headache pain medications more than 10 to 15 days a month and that, unfortunately, can lead to headaches that happen even more frequently.
The 4 Stages of a Migraine
The first is the prodrome. This occurs in up to 60% of patients that have migraines it appears about 24 to 48 hours prior to the onset of the headache.
The symptoms include euphoria, depression, irritability, food cravings, constipation, neck stiffness,and increased yawning.
The second phase is the aura. This next step occurs in 25% of patients.
Symptoms may include: visual symptom, such as bright lines, shapes or objects. Auditory symptom such as tinnitus, noises, music. Symptoms may also include somatosensory like burning pain and paresthesias. Loss of vision, loss of hearing, loss of feeling or physical sensation of a body part as well as the inability t o move a part of the body.
The third stage is the headache or actual migraine. It is often but not always unilateral or on one side of the body. The headache may be throbbing or will have pulsating quality and patients frequently experience nausea and some will experience vomiting during this period. Individuals can also experience loss of taste and smell, light sensitivity, loss of skin sensitivity. This phase can last from 4 hours to several days.
The final part of the headache is the Postdrome period: This phase can include extreme exhaustion and head movement can trigger head pain. The Migraine frequently resolves with sleep. If it gets worse during sleep, other causes for the headache should be explored.
Okay, your headache doesn’t fit this pattern, now what.
This doesn’t mean your headache is not a migraine, your headache is not a typical migraine. There typical and atypical headache symptoms.
“Why does this happen?”
Every Migraine sufferer asks this question.
Looking at triggers and mediators of migraines may be the only solution to heading them off at the pass, or resolving the cause all together. Recognizing the trigger or threshold causes are the place to start. So, what do I mean by triggers and threshold?
We individually will need to determine our triggers but here is a small list; genetic predisposition, emotional stress, hormone changes, not eating, weather, sleep disturbances, odors, neck pain, lights, alcohol, smoke, sleeping late, lack of sleep, heat, food sensitivities, low blood sugar, exercise, sexual activity –don't confuse sexual activity and headache with migraine all the time.
Mostly common sense, not so easy to execute.
You may not be able to resolve everything at once.
Start with a plan and the changes most do-able.
Make a list of all of the habits, foods, and activities that may be influencing your health, and your headaches.
Prioritize the list by easiest to hardest changes you would like to make.
Post the list, inside a cupboard door or in your medicine cabinet, on your mirror. Somewhere you will see it every day.
Your list may include things you would like to stop doing and things you would like to start doing, such as eating more whole foods.
Start with the one thing you can do today.
For some, drinking more water every day. For others cutting out processed and fast foods, or simply reducing soda consumption may be the place to start. We all have to start where we are with what we can do.
Work on one thing at a time and create a new habit.
Check off your list when you have made the change or added the diet, nutrition, lifestyle.
If you slip on one of your goals because of a holiday, special occasion, vacation, or you just had a bad day, Get back on your plan right away!
It is never to late to start.
Don’t beat yourself up when you make a mistake.
Make changes for yourself, not for anyone else. This is your journey, you do not need validation from anyone else.
As difficult as it is to live with chronic headaches and migraines, like all health issues, finding a solution can be a process or a journey.
Keep a headache journal.
Find a good practitioner to help you diagnose and create a treatment plan.
You made need both western medicine for the medications to help you get through and a wellness practitioner to help you work on the more “wholistic” approaches to your headache.
Wellness or Health Practitioners
Acupuncture
Chiropractor
Functional Medicine Practitioner
Massage Therapist
Medical Specialist including endocrinology
My final words of support:
Don’t give up. Interview practitioners before engaging them in your care. Stay the course, sometimes the journey is long.