Migraine - The Painful Headache

Migraine headache is a very big health problem that many of the people encounter in day to day life. Generally headaches may be the symptoms of other illnesses, or it can happen due to other reasons. Headache is of different varieties and the classifications are:
Migraine Headache
Tension Headache
Cluster Headache
Sinus Headache
Neuralgic Pain
Headache with intracranial lesions
Miscellaneous Headaches.

MIGRAINE:
It is a particular type headache which is very painful. It is estimated that 10% of the total population of the world suffer from migraine. A migraine headache is felt in the temple region and around the eye on the same side. Recurring attacks of severe pain is natural in migraine. The problems can be maximized by nausea, vomiting, double vision and dizziness. Normally at the beginning stage the pain will be one-sided and later it can spread all over. The duration of this headache can be very long even up to two days. Normally the duration will be 8-10 hours.

Migraine is classified generally as common migraine, classic migraine and complicated migraine. The international Headache society has given a detailed classification for migraine based on the nature of pain, causes of pain etc, and so it is easy to understand.

In some cases of migraine, the people can sense the onset of pain by different symptoms. The symptoms of the aura are fatigue, depression, loss of memory, irritation to light and sound, lack of concentration and disturbed sleep. The period of these symptoms is of great importance, as we can have abortive drugs at this time. But Migraine can occur without aura also. A sudden pain can break out and can grow very fast. For treatment of migraine, the patient should be able to provide the details of the nature of the pain experienced. A very important nature of migraine is, it usually associates with nausea and vomiting. Sometimes the nausea and vomiting can occur even without headache in connection with migraine.

Though migraine is common in men and women, women are more prone to the attack of it. Migraine pains can be precipitated by tension, anxiety, stress, consumption of alcohol and certain food items, lack of sleep, hormonal changes and some environmental factors. It is better for a migraine patient to remember the history of pain, so that the reason can be found out and can be avoided. This type of headache can be hereditary also. So, family history is also important for the treatment.

There are two theories behind the occurrence of migraine, which are neurogenic theory and vasoconstriction theory. According to both these theories it is caused by the narrowing of blood vessels, which leads to deficiency of blood to the area in which it takes place. Migraine attacks can activate sympathetic nervous system that controls responses to stress and pain and it can cause nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Also, the sympathetic nervous activity delays emptying of stomach into the small intestine and thus prevents medicines taken by the patient, entering in the intestine and being absorbed. This is the reason for ineffectiveness of medicines taken after the start of migraine pain. The increased sympathetic activity also decreases circulation of blood and it increases sensitivity.

In the treatment of migraine, the main aim is to reduce the frequency of attacks, to abort the migraine threat and to reduce the pain. There are some medicines which are used to prevent migraine but they have no effect in pain relieving. These medicines can be taken only on the advice of a physician. Also some group of drugs is there to abort the pain at the onset of aura itself. These medicines cannot be repeated if pain is not aborted by the first use. All these need a prescription of a medical practitioner. Pain killers can be used to get relief from pain during the migraine attack. The pain relievers are of different nature and the effect can vary from one person to other.

To avoid migraine, one has to be aware of the migraine attack and to be cautious about the causes. It is better and easy to prevent migraine than trying for the cure. Moreover, taking precautions can save you from staying away from migraine forever.

Linus Orakles
http://www.authorclub.info/