You Can Help Yourself

Those who suffer from reoccurring migraines often feel powerless when an attack occurs. A migraine headache is caused by an enlargement of blood vessels that creates a series of chemicals to be released and attack arteries in the brain. Once the chemicals have been released to wreak their havoc, the enlarging of the arteries begins to send painful symptoms that only magnifies until the arteries have stopped expanding or migraine relief has been found. Though a cure for migraine headaches does not exist at this point in time there are several steps one can take to help reduce the duration of a migraine attack decrease the migraine intensity and hopefully lessens the frequency of the attack.

Steps You Can Take

Men and women who suffer from moderate to intense migraine pain need to take a few practical steps to help reduce their migraine occurrences. By simply making a few changes to their normal routine, men and women will notice fewer migraine attacks during a single month. Some simple steps to reducing migraine headaches are:

• A set scheduled time for going to bed and waking each morning.
• Having a daily exercise regime – exercise has proven to help improve quality of life for individuals suffering from various conditions from diabetes to migraine headaches. Individuals who are not physically fit are more prone to migraine attacks.
• Avoid skipping meals and long bouts of fasting.
• Avoid stress (if possible) – exercise can help release negative endorphins and research has proven that daily exercise can help improve mood and improve clarity of thought.
• Refrain from overuse of caffeine do not consume more than two caffeinated beverages in a given day.
• Bright and flashing lights are often associated with migraines therefore keep protective eyewear on hand and avoid places with flashing lights.

Natural Steps You Can Take

Finding a natural way to treat migraine headaches is a safer and healthier alternative than prescription medication. Prescription medication can be addictive and have a negative physiological effect on other parts of the body that could ultimately shorten one’s life expectancy. There are several natural steps one can take to help reduce if not eliminate his or her migraine attacks.

• Massage Therapy
• Chiropractic Manipulation
• Acupuncture

Acupuncture

Acupuncture as a therapy originated as traditional Chinese medicine. Acupuncture is based on the premise that there are patents of energy that flow through the body are and essential to total body health. Acupuncture uses stimulation of specific acu-points on the skin by inserting needles that range in length from 1 cm to 10 cm. A typical treatment involves the use of 5 to 15 needles and the generally the acu-points vary during each treatment session.

Massage Therapy

The two main symptoms that are presented by the condition of migraines are fatigue and pain. Massage therapy can aid in lessening both of these symptoms by helping the migraine suffer to be able to experience less pain, obtain more sleep, and also to help relax some of the tightened and stiff muscles that can contribute to much of the pain. Research has proven that the use of massage therapy as a form of migraine treatment can help Migraine sufferers experience deeper levels of sleep and lessen levels of pain and fatigue. The way that massage therapy accomplishes this is by using the different forms of massage to help oxygenate the body as a whole which can decrease the severity of symptoms that a migraine sufferer will experience.

Chiropractic Care

Chiropractic care regularly falls within the category of alternative treatment; however it is becoming much more accepted by both the mainstream medical community as well as an acceptable form of migraine treatment. The main determination behind the concept of chiropractic care is to aid in lessening symptoms of pain and other issues by correcting any imbalances in the skeletal configuration. The forms of adjustment of the skeletal structure are made through techniques such as stretches, adjustments, as well as manipulations where the imbalance can be restored and results in lessening of symptoms.

Chiropractic care as used for migraine treatment has become increasingly more popular because of the ability for chiropractic care to benefit the migraine sufferer and offer pain and stress relief that is so often related to migraines

Tags: Acetaminophen (a.k.a. Tylenol), migraine pain, migraine relief, Non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID), over the counter medication, treating migraines