So what is a migraine?
Now, first of all, I want to make it clear that I am not a doctor nor am I an expert in migraine headaches. I am only speaking from personal experience and hope to help others in the process. That being said migraine is more than just a headache. Migraine symptoms include a pounding headache, nausea, vomiting, and light sensitivity and are often treated with antinausea drugs and abortive or preventive medications. Headache remedies include pain relievers. But if you are like me and try to avoid processed foods, artificial chemicals and don’t like putting medications in your body unless it is absolutely necessary there are alternative approaches to pain relief that may appeal to you. But before deciding on a treatment its important to understand what is triggering your migraines.
Years ago when my headaches started my doctor gave me a list of common triggers and then told me to keep a headache journal for 2 weeks documenting any and all headaches and the circumstances that surrounded when they were occurring. We discovered that triggers for my headaches were lack of sleep, travel, changes in the weather (particularly when low-pressure systems are moving in), high levels of stress and yogurt. Yes. Yogurt is a trigger for me if I eat it too often. So I highly recommend doing a similar exercise in recording and analyzing what your triggers are. A good remedy may be just to identify your triggers and then avoid them. Today my migraine was triggered by a combination of stress, lack of sleep, the weather and then the 40-minute drive home did not help. I also had yogurt for breakfast. It was the perfect storm of triggers some I could have avoided if I had been thinking. But some triggers are hard or impossible to avoid. Or maybe your migraines are triggered by a medical condition and can only be treated with a prescribed medication. But if you do the migraine journal to figure out your triggers you can know more definitively what may be causing the migraine and decide on the course of treatment.
Alternative treatments including acupuncture, massage (my personal fav), relaxation techniques like reflexology and music therapy, meditation (love the Calm app), exercise, spinal manipulation, talk therapy/cognitive behavioral therapy, diet changes, sleep, and keeping up a healthy routine are often approaches to treating migraine pain without medication. It may take a little experimentation to figure out what works for you. Today my migraine was minor compared to some I've had in the past and I was able to treat it simply with a warm compress, peppermint essential oil (one dab on each temple) and rest. But there have been days where I thought I was going to vomit from the pain and the only remedy was a dark, quiet room and peppermint essential oil. I had a friend tell me today that if you put your hands and feet in cold water at the same time it draws the blood flow away from the migraine area and relieves the pressure causing the pain. I have not tried that one yet but may in the future. I've found that for me if I am drinking enough water, getting enough sleep, eating clean foods and avoiding processed foods, artificial ingredients, sugar and eating lots of veggies high in nutrients I tend to have few or no migraines. Lately, I have been all over the place and today it caught up with me.
The point is to know what is triggering your migraines. Keep a headache journal for a couple weeks and analyze the similarities of the circumstances surrounding each occurrence. Avoid or omit your triggers and see how often you have migraines then. And if they continue and nothing seems to work please, please seek the advice of a doctor or medical professional.
