Migraine is a neurological condition affecting both the mind and body, typically manifested by frequent, severe headache attacks lasting 4-72 hours4.
Painkillers and anti-sickness medicines may help relieve discomfort and symptoms. Your doctor may suggest triptans such as sumatriptan, almotriptan, eletriptan, frovatriptan or naratriptan taken as pills, shots or nasal sprays in order to block pain pathways in the brain.
Avoiding triggers
Avoiding triggers can be key in effectively managing migraine symptoms for many living with migraines. Triggers could range from sleeping patterns or food to stress and anxiety – the goal should be to learn what causes your migraines and avoid those things whenever possible – keeping a headache diary is also helpful in pinpointing these triggers; keep in mind, however, that what may seem like a trigger could actually just be premonitory symptoms, occurring hours or even days before actual attacks begin.
Multiple factors can contribute to headaches, including environmental elements (light, sound and odour), changes to sleeping patterns (too little or too much sleep), diet and dehydration, physical activity stress/anxiety as well as hormonal fluctuations. Finding out what triggers migraines for each individual patient is crucial; for example a young woman might notice her headaches are most prevalent after skipping meals and being highly stressed out.
Medications
Migraine is a neurological condition characterized by moderate to severe, throbbing headaches accompanied by nausea and vomiting, light or sound sensitivity and other symptoms. Doctors can treat and prevent migraine attacks using medication that targets specific parts of the brain involved with pain signaling.
Simple analgesics such as ibuprofen and aspirin may help alleviate headaches for some individuals; however, overusing these medicines could result in medication-overuse headaches.
Triptans, ditans, and gepants are migraine-specific medicines which work by targeting one part of the trigeminal nerve in order to quickly reduce pain. They differ from analgesics in that they act on multiple pain pathways simultaneously in the body.
Erenumab-aooe (Aimovig), fremanezumab-vfrm (Emgality), and galcanezumab-gnlm (Vyepti) are three monoclonal antibodies that help block the CGRP receptors in your brain, given by injection every month or quarter. A newer medicine called atogepant (Qulipta) also aids migraine prevention when taken alone or alongside other medicines.
Lifestyle changes
Lifestyle changes may help alleviate migraines. Acupuncture may reduce headache pain, while studies suggest cognitive behavioral therapy or yoga might reduce stress-induced migraines, such as chewing gum or engaging in strenuous physical activity which often trigger them. Avoid chewing gum, clenching teeth or engaging in strenuous physical exercise for maximum benefits; feverfew and butterbur have both been shown to prevent migraines in small trials; riboflavin (vitamin B-2) and magnesium supplements may reduce migraine pain and frequency but larger trials would be required before making definitive claims regarding either one’s effectiveness or lack thereof
Keep a healthy diet, get enough restful sleep, and drink lots of water can all be effective tools against migraines. OTC pain medicines like Tylenol(r), naproxen (Advil(r) Naprosyn(r)), and ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) may be taken when symptoms first surface; caffeine may also provide small relief by numbing nerve endings and increasing absorption of other pain-relieving drugs. Finally, some may benefit from single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS); this treatment uses an external device to deliver magnetic waves directly into their brain.
Emergency care
Migraines are one of the primary reasons people visit an emergency department. Migraine attacks that require hospital visits tend to be more intense and resistant to home remedies; moreover, these attacks tend to last longer than usual attacks.
If you experience sudden symptoms such as pain, nausea, vomiting and light sensitivity that require medical intervention immediately, emergency care should be sought immediately in order to ensure you receive fast and effective treatment.
At an emergency room (ER), physicians will typically give you analgesics to relieve your discomfort, and migraine medications to prevent future headaches. Usually administered via IV, these can include magnesium, anti-nausea drugs and NSAIDs.
Your doctor may suggest having a CT scan done of your head to identify any abnormalities such as brain tumors or bleeding that could contribute to migraine symptoms, and reduce them through regular treatments like Acupuncture. Other therapies that have proven their efficacy in relieving migraine symptoms include biofeedback therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy.
