Is Chronic Migraine worth talking discussing? This is what most people feel about migraine. Many people just turn their heads away from the topic as they see this as unimportant. Here are a few numbers or statistics that may change your mind if you too think the same way.
Chronic migraine is the second leading cause of global disability. About 1 billion people worldwide live with migraine and it currently has no cure. However, you can relieve the symptoms and prevent additional migraine attacks provided you discipline your approach.
How? Well, we will let you know that in this article, so, keep on reading.
What is Chronic Migraine?
A migraine is a type of headache, but not a normal one as it gives throbbing pain on one side of the brain which is caused by activation of nerve fibers within the wall of brain blood vessels. Along with the pain, chronic migraine can increase sensitivity to light, noise, and odors. It also causes nausea and vomiting in some cases.
Causes of Chronic Migraine
A migraine can last for hours to days and occur most frequently in the morning on waking up. More women are affected by it than men and occurs mostly before menstruation. A number of factors can be held responsible for a migraine such as stress, anxiety, hangover, low blood sugar, flashing lights, or not getting enough sleep.
Migraine is a genetic disorder in most cases. Most patients who have migraine have a family history of the disorder among his/her ancestors. Along with the factors listed above, chronic migraine is also caused by hormonal changes and especially in women.
Hence, women are the most affected gender by chronic migraine. They may get relief from migraine after menopause. Now, let’s see a few symptoms of Chronic migraine.
Chronic Migraine Symptoms
A person who is bound to be affected with migraine or chronic migraine can likely go through symptoms in 4 different stages namely prodroma, aura, attack, and post-drome.
Prodrome
This stage usually starts 24 hrs or 2 days prior to a migraine. The symptoms of Prodrome include food cravings, mood changes, constipation, and frequent urination.
Aura
This stage can occur during or before a migraine. The symptoms in the Prodrome stage are visual such as vision loss, difficulty speaking, and numbness in the face or body.
Attack
The migraine attack can last from a few hours to days. They can occur several times in a month depending on different factors and varying from person to person. The symptom is the attack itself which is a throbbing pain on one side of the brain including vomiting or nausea.
The attack can worsen if you have continuous head movements or if you cough or sneeze.
Post-drome
This is the stage after an occurrence of migraine. It may bring peace to a few affected people whereas the others are expected to be confused and washed out for the day, which can last for up to a day. Also, continuous head movements might bring the pain back, so you need to be careful in this stage too.
Chronic Migraine Treatment
There is no permanent cure for migraine as we have already discussed in this article. However, you can relieve the symptoms through these quick steps.
- When having a migraine, find a dark room to rest with your eyes closed
- Place a cool cloth over your forehead
- Keep yourself hydrated by drinking a lot of fluids
To manage chronic migraine, you should make certain changes in your lifestyle such as
- Stress reduction through exercise or through mindfulness meditation
- Avoiding alcohol or intoxications like tobacco
- Managing a daily diary to be aware of your emotions and manage them effectively
- Considering therapy if you are into depression
- Running or signing up for the gym
- Considering a healthy diet that makes you happy
- Getting good, quality sleep
You might have understood that there is no cure for Chronic migraine, however, all that you can do is avoid triggers through lifestyle changes. Here are a few lifestyle changes that you can add to the above list.
Migraine as you have understood is a genetic disorder in most cases. However, lifestyle too influences the effect of migraine in individuals, stress being the highest contributor. So, all that we can advise you is, to take a mindful breath and be stress-free to avoid chronic migraine. Read more mindful posts by following our blog regularly.
