People often confuse migraines with regular headaches. If they have one or more severe headaches a week, they start considering themselves as migraine patients without knowing the real cause behind them.
So, what is migraine?
A migraine is a severe headache that can last somewhere in between 4 and 72 hours in some individuals. On the other hand, some individuals don't have such long episodes. A migraine is often said to be accompanied by vomiting and severe nausea in some individuals, whereas others just become sensitive to light and sound.
According to multiple studies conducted over the years, migraines in individuals can start in childhood and their occurrence significantly increases as they grow up. Some more facts revealed by these studies include - migraines are up to 3 times more common in females than in males and the duration of episodes in females is longer than in males.
It could be disrupted levels of physical activity and decreased quality of life that causes chronic pain. Well, there are ways to handle migraines and suppress frequent episodes. Here are 3 of them:
1. Prescription Medicines
While there is a wide range of prescription medicines available to manage migraines with ease, here is a list of few that you can take:
- NSAIDs
NSAIDs (Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) are widely available OTC (over-the-counter) drugs. These include aspirin, diclofenac, naproxen, and ibuprofen, which by far are the best medications available to manage migraines. Besides, these medications are quite inexpensive and readily available too. The best part is that you can take any of them in mild and severe episodes.
- Ergotamine
This is more of a chemical form of prescription drug available as an over-the-counter medication to relieve migraines. It can immediately relieve the pain and make you feel better. This drug is mostly prescribed to individuals who don't have frequent migraines and long-lasting episodes.
As this drug can cause blood vessels to become narrower, it's not for individuals with frequent migraines.
- Antiemetics
As people who experience migraines may have severe nausea and vomiting too, antiemetic drugs or agents, that can counter this sensation, are most often prescribed by doctors.
2. Meditation
According to a report by Medical News Today, meditation has been a subject of interest for many medical researchers as a means to relieve stress and pain. They suggest that spiritual meditation possesses the ability to increase your pain-tolerance ability, especially in case of migraines.
Another study was conducted on individuals who were dealing with migraines in their everyday lives. These individuals were randomly practiced upon one of four types of meditations or relaxation techniques, such as spiritual meditation, progressive muscle relaxation, externally-focused secular meditation, and internally-focused secular meditation.
As a result of the study, they found that people who were chosen for spiritual meditation experienced fewer migraine episodes as well as increased pain tolerance.
3. Acupuncture
Some other studies aimed at finding different ways to relieve chronic pain ended up on acupuncture. According to an article published in JAMA, doing acupuncture can reduce the frequency as well as the intensity of migraines without aura, i.e. migraines that make you sensitive to light and sound, and sometimes cause temporary cognitive impairment as well.
In simple terms, acupuncture is known to restore how positive energy flows throughout your body. This also means it removes the negative energy from your body that causes you pain. Talking from a medical perspective, acupuncture stimulates all the system of your body, which further triggers the healing process.
Therefore, it is suggested that you learn and try acupuncture at home.
Conclusion!
While it may not be possible for anyone to avoid migraines, they can surely try and reduce their frequency and chronic pain. If you experience migraines quite often, you must keep the prescribed medication handy. Perhaps you have already been doing it. However, increasing your activity level and quality of life can really help you manage migraines with ease.
Don't be dependent upon medication. Instead, try and change your lifestyle and put the three ways we discussed above to practice to make life better for you. One bonus tip here is that you should keep your bedroom as dark as possible to improve your sleep quality.
