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| Treating Migraine Headaches Naturally |
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A migraine is a specific type of headache that usually occurs as a throbbing pain in the forehead or temples and is often one-sided. It can also include feelings of nausea, depression and sensitivity to ‘flashing lights’ or other visual disturbance known as ‘auras’. Migraines can be rather debilitating, causing sufferers disruptive sleep or work, and afterwards feeling tired and weak. Those suffering from migraines will often prefer to rest in a darkened room. Attacks often reoccur and curiously their severity reduces with age. Typically, the intense pain only lasts a few hours, but can continue in some cases for several days. About three quarters of those who suffer from migraines are women, particularly school-aged children. They are also associated with women’s menstruation period. Migraines can be classified into two types: those with and those without auras. Migraines can be set off by a variety of triggers, from tiredness to stress, hormonal changes and foods, such as alcohol, chocolate, peanuts and avocados. Why migraines happen has been argued for over a century, but is as yet unknown, although a family history is fairly common. There are two main camps: those who believe that migraines are related to epileptic seizures, which start in the nervous tissue of the brain, and those who believe that headache pain is caused by blood vessels in the head when they dilate or contract. In most cases, there is probably more than one factor involved to cause the migraine. Conventional treatment of acute migraines has been revolutionized by the triptan family of drugs, although other medications have been used. Triptan has been very successful in eradicating the symptoms, imitating the action of serotonin on blood vessels, causing them to contract, but unfortunately it doesn’t work for everyone for reasons that are unclear. Some natural treatments include taking butterbur root, music therapy, feverfew and magnesium. Acupuncture and yoga are also highly recommended as a defense against migraines. Natural Remedies for Migraine Headaches
1. Oelkers-Ax R, et al. Butterbur root extract and music therapy in the prevention of childhood migraine: an explorative study. Eur J Pain. 2008 Apr;12(3):301-13. PMID: 17659990. 2. Grossman W, Schmidramsl H. An extract of Petasites hybridus is effective in the prophylaxis of migraine. Altern Med Rev. 2001 Jun;6(3):303-10. PMID: 11410074. 3. Lipton RB, Göbel H, Einhäupl KM, Wilks K, Mauskop A. Petasites hybridus root (butterbur) is an effective preventive treatment for migraine. Neurology. 2004 Dec 28;63(12):2240-4. PMID: 15623680. 4. Murphy JJ, Heptinstall S, Mitchell JR. Randomised double-blind placebo-controlled trial of feverfew in migraine prevention. Lancet. 1988 Jul 23;2(8604):189-92. PMID: 2899663. 5. Johnson ES, Kadam NP, Hylands DM, Hylands PJ. Efficacy of feverfew as prophylactic treatment of migraine. Br Med J (Clin Res Ed). 1985 Aug 31;291(6495):569-73. PMID: 3929876. 6. Pfaffenrath V, et al. The efficacy and safety of Tanacetum parthenium (feverfew) in migraine prophylaxis--a double-blind, multicentre, randomized placebo-controlled dose-response study. Cephalalgia. 2002 Sep;22(7):523-32. PMID: 12230594. 7. Peikert A, Wilimzig C, Köhne-Volland R. Prophylaxis of migraine with oral magnesium: results from a prospective, multi-center, placebo-controlled and double-blind randomized study. Cephalalgia. 1996 Jun;16(4):257-63. PMID: 8792038. 8. Taubert K. [Magnesium in migraine. Results of a multicenter pilot study] Fortschr Med. 1994 Aug 30;112(24):328-30. PMID: 7959501. 9. Facchinetti F, Sances G, Borella P, Genazzani AR, Nappi G. Magnesium prophylaxis of menstrual migraine: effects on intracellular magnesium. Headache. 1991 May;31(5):298-301. PMID: 1860787. 10. Wang F, et al. Oral magnesium oxide prophylaxis of frequent migrainous headache in children: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Headache. 2003 Jun;43(6):601-10. PMID: 12786918. 11. Titus F, Dávalos A, Alom J, Codina A. 5-Hydroxytryptophan versus methysergide in the prophylaxis of migraine. Randomized clinical trial. Eur Neurol. 1986;25(5):327-9. PMID: 3536521. 12. De Benedittis G, Massei R. Serotonin precursors in chronic primary headache. A double-blind cross-over study with L-5-hydroxytryptophan vs. placebo. J Neurosurg Sci. 1985 Jul-Sep;29(3):239-48. PMID: 3913752. 13. Schoenen J, Jacquy J, Lenaerts M. Effectiveness of high-dose riboflavin in migraine prophylaxis. A randomized controlled trial. Neurology. 1998 Feb;50(2):466-70. PMID: 9484373. 14. Sándor PS, et al. Efficacy of coenzyme Q10 in migraine prophylaxis: a randomized controlled trial. Neurology. 2005 Feb 22;64(4):713-5. PMID: 15728298. 15. Alecrim-Andrade J, et al. Acupuncture in migraine prevention: a randomized sham controlled study with 6-months posttreatment follow-up. Clin J Pain. 2008 Feb;24(2):98-105. PMID: 18209514. 16. Endres HG, Diener HC, Molsberger A. Role of acupuncture in the treatment of migraine. Expert Rev Neurother. 2007 Sep;7(9):1121-34. PMID: 17868011. 17. Kurland HD. Treatment of headache pain with auto-acupressure. Dis Nerv Syst. 1976 Mar;37(3):127-9. PMID: 1253662. 18. John PJ, Sharma N, Sharma CM, Kankane A. Effectiveness of yoga therapy in the treatment of migraine without aura: a randomized controlled trial. Headache. 2007 May;47(5):654-61. PMID: 17501846. 19. Peatfield RC. Relationships between food, wine, and beer-precipitated migrainous headaches. Headache. 1995 Jun;35(6):355-7. PMID: 7635722. 20. Marcus DA, Scharff L, Turk D, Gourley LM. A double-blind provocative study of chocolate as a trigger of headache. Cephalalgia. 1997 Dec;17(8):855-62; discussion 800. PMID: 9453274. 21. Millichap JG, Yee MM. The diet factor in pediatric and adolescent migraine. Pediatr Neurol. 2003 Jan;28(1):9-15. PMID: 12657413 More Migraine Headache Related Articles
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