What’s In A Migraine?

Understanding about migraine pain can help to bring about the circumstances and knowledge needed for proper treatment of the migraine pain to take place. Each individual who suffers from migraine pain will have different risk factors, triggers, as well as warning signs but knowing what some of these common factors are can help to provide insight into how to treat the migraine pain of each individual on a personal level.

A Little History

A little history about migraine pain is that it is not some new phenomenon within the medical community. Migraine pain has plagued individuals for centuries and unfortunately there are millions of individuals around the world who experience migraine pain on a chronic basis. There are some people who will be more prone to experiencing migraine pain, some of the factors that play a role in the increased risk of a person suffering from migraine pain are as follows:

• Gender – studies show that gender does in fact play a very large role in those who would be predisposed to suffering from migraine pain. Women are much more likely to experience migraine pain, some research shows because of hormonal changes that seem to play a large role in affecting or triggering migraine pain. More specifically it seems that estrogen, the level of this hormone and how this hormone affects migraine pain is much more prevalent in women. This is the reason behind many women complaining of increased migraine pain during the times of their monthly cycles.
• Age – research shows that most individuals who will experience migraine pain will have had their first attack by the age of 40 years old, and most often would have experienced their first attack during adolescence. However, it is not unheard of for children to also experience migraine pain.
• Family History – studies show that genetics do in fact play a large role in those who are predisposed to suffer from migraine pain. Research states that up to 90 percent of those suffering from migraine pain have a family history of migraine pain sufferers.
• Other Medical Issues – other research shows that individuals who have other medical issues such as depression, stroke, epilepsy, high blood pressure, or anxiety are much more likely to experiencing migraine pain than those who do not have these conditions.

What’s the Trigger?

Another piece of information that many migraine pain sufferers do not realize is that there are certain triggers that can set off the events of a migraine pain attack. Many times these triggers begin with a specific source (or combination of sources) such as environmental, physiological, or physical events. Some of the most common triggers that can set off a migraine pain occurrence are as follows:

• Hormones – of course this is especially true for women. The estrogen levels in women can fluctuate during monthly cycles and can trigger migraine pain.
• Sleep – or lack thereof! It is important for individuals who are prone to experiencing migraine pain to get enough, but not too much, sleep. A lack of sleep, or sometimes the overabundance of sleep can be a trigger to causing migraine pain.
• Lighting – another trigger of migraine pain is certain lighting such as bright, flashing, visually stimulating, or intense lighting can be triggers to migraine pain in those who are prone to getting migraine headaches.
• Food – there are certain foods such as chocolates or aged cheeses which are known migraine pain triggers. Avoiding these is recommended for those prone to suffering from migraine pain.
• Fasting – research shows that it is important for those who are prone to migraine pain to not skip meals or fast, it is important that an even level of nutrition be ingested during the day.
• Caffeine – is another known migraine pain trigger.
• Stress – is one of the triggers of migraine pain that falls under the category of physiological events. While stress is often nearly impossible to completely avoid in the world that we know, it is important for stress management to take place as much as possible in those who are prone to experiencing migraine pain.

The Yellow Warning Light

Once migraine pain sufferers understand what the risk factors and triggers are to their migraine pain it is important that they also begin to understand their own personal warning signs that occur before a migraine pain attack. If the warning signs can be recognized in a timely manner then hopefully prevention of the migraine pain can take place. Some of the most common warning signs to migraine pain are as follows:

• Drowsiness
• Obsessive Yawning
• Fatigue
• Irritability
• Mood Changes
• Food Cravings (especially those that are high in either sugar and/or salt)

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