Migraines are severe, recurring, and painful headaches. A migraine can cause a severe throbbing painful sensation, usually on one side of the head. It is often accompanied by nausea, vomiting, and extreme sensitivity to light and sound. Migraine attacks can last for hours or days, and the pain can be so intense that it interferes with your daily activities.
Factors that can trigger a migraine attack include changes in the sleep-wake cycle, delaying or skipping a meal, drugs that cause inflammation of the blood vessels, daily use of medication to relieve headaches, bright light, sunlight, fluorescent light, and excessive noise.
There Are Two Different Types of Migraines:
- Migraines without aura: these are the most common. They are like severe headaches but with additional symptoms like flashes of light or blind spots, or other disturbances, such as tingling on one side of the face or an arm or leg, and difficulty speaking.
- Migraines with aura: these are often more complicated because the patient tends to have neurological symptoms or visual disturbances with the headache.
Causes
The exact mechanism by which migraines occur is unknown. Current theory says it is a disorder of the nerves and blood vessels of the brain. Migraine attacks can be triggered by dietary, hormonal, emotional, physical, and environmental factors.
Symptoms
There is no specific test to diagnose migraines, but several symptoms help to identify them. These symptoms are classified according to the type of migraine.
Migraines with aura are often accompanied by symptoms of the nervous system, signalling a possible migraine. These symptoms often start 10 to 20 minutes before the headache starts. In many cases, they affect vision as follows:
- Temporary blind spot
- Eye pain
- Blurry vision
- Visual disturbances with flashing lights or lines
- Only being able to see objects that are close (tunnel view)
These symptoms may also be accompanied by:
- Nausea or dizziness
- Weakness
- Yawning
- Difficulty concentrating
- Numbness
- Tingling
The headache worsens as the day goes by. It tends to be a throbbing pain. In some cases, it can affect just one side of the head, behind the eye or on the neck, and can last up to 48 hours. Headaches can occur with other symptoms: chills, frequent urination, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, sweating, photophobia, or sensitivity to light.
Prevention
The most crucial step to prevent migraines is to find out what the triggers are with the help of a specialist. Once they are known, it is easier to avoid the triggers and follow some general guidelines:
- Get enough sleep
- Exercise regularly
- Slowly reduce caffeine.
- Control and learn to manage stress
Treatment
There is currently no single cure for migraines. Treatment is aimed at preventing a full-blown attack and alleviating the symptoms that occur.
- Analgesics: used to relieve the pain and symptoms associated with a migraine attack.
- Preventive medications: taken regularly to reduce the severity or frequency of episodes.
If you have signs and symptoms of migraines regularly, take note of the events that happen before during and after each episode, then make an appointment with your doctor to talk about your symptoms. Also, if you have had headaches in the past, and the pattern changes or if your headache suddenly feels different, please see a doctor.