June 27, 2019 | Everyone has suffered from a headache at some point in their life, a tightness in the shoulders, neck, scalp or jaw. They are often related to stress, depression or anxiety. Sometimes, however, a headache can be something much more serious. Every 10 seconds, someone in the United States goes into the emergency room with a headache or a migraine, a severe recurring intense throbbing pain on one side of the head, although in about one third of attacks, both sides are affected. Attacks are often accompanied by a temporary loss of vision, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, extreme sensitivity to sound, light, touch and smell, and tingling or numbness in the extremities or face. In 15 to 20 percent of migraine attacks, which usually last between four and 72 hours, other neurological symptoms occur before the actual head pain. Depression, anxiety, and sleep disturbances are common for those with chronic migraines, attacks that come nearly daily.

June 27, 2019 | Many people who suffer from migraines have a family history of migraine. If both of your parents had migraines, there’s a good chance that you will as well. Even if only one of your parents had migraines, you’re still at increased risk of developing these headaches. You also have a relatively higher risk of migraines if you’re young and female. In fact, women are three times more likely to have migraines than are men. If you’re a woman with migraines, you may find that your headaches worsen during menstruation, as more severe and more frequent attacks often result from fluctuations in estrogen levels. They may also change during pregnancy. Many women report improvement in their migraines later in pregnancy, but others report that their headaches worsened during the first trimester. If pregnancy or menstruation affects your migraines, your headaches are also likely to worsen if you take birth control pills or hormone replacement therapy.

June 27, 2019 | As many as 10 percent of children in grade school suffer from migraine headaches. Half of all migraine sufferers have their first attack before the age of 12. Before puberty, boys suffer from migraines more often than girls. As adolescence approaches, and the influence of estrogen begins, the incidence increases more rapidly in girls than in boys. Most headaches in children are not symptoms of some serious disorder or disease, but this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t treat your child’s pain seriously. While there is no method of preventing migraines, there are certain things you can do to decrease their severity. Make sure your child doesn’t skip meals and keeps a regular sleep schedule. And look for things that might trigger an attack, like too much physical activity or stress. Foods like cheese, chocolate, caffeine, MSG, nuts or pickles are considered migraine triggers and should be avoided by children who suffer from such headaches.

June 27, 2019 | Since there is no test available to diagnose migraine headaches, physicians typically rely on the patient’s full medical history and a physical exam, including a thorough neurological evaluation, to evaluate the subject. In some cases, the physician may recommend an MRI to rule out a blood clot or brain tumor. A combination of medications and the avoidance of triggers that cause migraines is the main way of treating such headaches. The use of drugs involves taking medication at the beginning of an attack to relieve the symptoms, or taking medication to reduce the frequency and severity of attacks. Some people with mild migraines do fine with over-the-counter medications while others with more disabling headaches may need prescription drugs. Such medications come in various forms, from tablets to nasal sprays and injectables. Which drug is used and how it is given should be discussed with the patient and physician.

June 27, 2019 | Taking a medication to relieve the symptoms of migraine headaches more than a couple of days a week can set off a vicious cycle called rebound. As each dose of medicine wears off, the pain reappears, leading patients to take even more medicine. The overuse of medicine, whether it’s an over-the-counter drug or a prescription medication, can actually start causing headaches. To break the cycle of rebound headaches, you’ll need to restrict how much pain medication you use. Depending on what drug you’ve been taking, your doctor may recommend stopping the medication right away or gradually reducing the dose until you’re taking the drug no more than twice a week. You may experience withdrawal symptoms such as nervousness, restlessness, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or constipation. Within a week to 10 days, your headaches may become less intense, with most people breaking the rebound headache cycle within two months.