Migraine - Alternative Treatment For Migraine Disease

A migraine is a throbbing, intense headache in one half of the head. It can affect people of all ages. The cause of migraine is not known.

During an attack, the blood vessels in the brain dilate and then draw together with stimulation of nerve endings near the affected blood vessels. These changes to the blood vessels are probably what cause the pain, but migraine is still a condition that is poorly understood.

It is a condition that causes episodes ('attacks') of headaches. Other symptoms such as feeling sick (nausea) or vomiting are also common. Between migraine attacks, the symptoms go completely.

There are two main types of migraine:

• Migraine without aura - sometimes called common migraine.

• Migraine with aura - sometimes called classic migraine.

Symptoms

• The headache is usually on one side of the head, typically at the front or side. Sometimes it is on both sides of the head. Sometimes it starts on one side, and then spreads all over the head. The pain is moderate or severe and is often described as 'throbbing' or 'pulsating'. Movements of the head may make it worse. It often begins in the morning, but may begin at any time of day or night. Typically, it gradually gets worse and peaks after 2-12 hours, and then gradually eases off. However, it can last from 4 to 72 hours.

• Other symptoms that are common include: feeling sick (nausea), vomiting, you may not like bright lights or loud noises, and you may just want to lie in a dark room.

• Other symptoms that sometimes occur include: being off food, blurred vision, poor concentration, stuffy nose, hunger, diarrhoea, abdominal pain, passing lots of urine, going pale, sweating, scalp tenderness, and sensations of heat or cold.

Treatment for Migraine

The first line of treatment is always to try and identify trigger factors, which means keeping a careful record of events, mainly of foods that have preceded an attack. Particular foods are identified as migraine triggers in about 20 per cent of sufferers.

-- Botox which has been used with success in some sufferers for reducing the frequency and intensity of migraine attacks.

-- Acupuncture which has offered some sufferers relieve and a better quality of life.

-- Chiropractic (a method employing a holistic approach to pain relief through massage, spinal manipulation and periodic adjustment of joints and soft tissue) which has had some positive results with migraine sufferers.

--Natural healing products (produced from essential oils and applied to the forehead, neck and temples as well as the soles of the feet) are becoming popular for treating migraine headaches.
Although the treatments for migraine headache have improved considerably with the passage of time but the available treatments are not effective for everyone suffering from this disease. The migraine treatments are divided in different types according to their method of treatment. Different treatments include preventive or prophylactic medications and alternative therapies to cure the migraine headache.

Calcium channel blockers

both verapamil hydrochloride and flunarizine are efficacious. (Flunarizine is available in Canada but not in the United States.) Contraindications are heart block, depression, and hypotension; side effects include weight gain, edema, constipation, and depression. Flunarizine may have extrapyramidal side effects as well. The suggested dose range of verapamil is 180 to 320 mg per day; flunarizine is effective at 5 to 10 mg per day.