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The Centre For Integrated Health Guide to Migraine

Migraine is a type of severe headache, often accompanied by feeling sick, vomiting or increased sensitivity to light. It is one of the most common types of headache, affecting about 15 in every 100 people in the UK, yet it is one of the least understood and poorly treated medical disorders. In this article, we will shed some light on what we know about migraine, how we can treat migraine quickly, effectively and naturally; and, most importantly, how we can avoid migraine occurrence in the long term!

If you would like more information specific to you, or to speak to one of our expert integrative health practitioners, please contact us on 01730 233 414 or email info@nutrivital.co.uk.

A Little Background Information

About 8 in 10 people who experience migraine have a family history of them. It is about twice as common in women than in men, and largely affects adults aged between 20 and 50 (but it may start in childhood and persist into old age). The experiences of those suffering from migraines vary greatly. Aside from throbbing, searing pain, which may or may not be one-sided, some experience “auras” prior to onset (classic migraine), while others do not (common migraine). Other symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, fever, chills, sweating, and/or sensitivity to light, sound, and smells may or may not present themselves.

On average, migraine sufferers have one or two day-long attacks every month. But 10 percent get them weekly, 20 percent experience them for two to three days, and up to 14 percent have them more than 15 days a month. Occurrence of migraine on more than 15 days per month is classified as chronic migraine. People with chronic migraine are often prescribed medication to control their symptoms. In turn, this can lead to further headaches, known as medication-overuse headaches (also called rebound or withdrawal headaches).

What’s Behind A Migrane?

It has long been thought that the cause of migraines was due to vascular changes in your brain, from initial blood vessel constriction and a drop in blood flow, followed by dilation and stretching of blood vessels, which activates pain-signalling neurons. However, new research finds flaws in this theory, as they’ve now been able to determine that migraines are not preceded by constriction and decrease in blood flow, but rather by an increase of nearly 300 percent. However, circulation then appears normal, or even slightly reduced, once the attack is in full swing.

Migraine is now thought to arise as a result of a disorder of your nervous system, most likely in your brain stem. Although most regions of your brain do not register or transmit pain signals, a network of nerves called the trigeminal nerve system does. Pain is relayed through the trigeminal network to an area in your brain stem called the trigeminal nucleus. From there, it is conveyed to the sensory cortex in your brain, which is involved in your awareness of pain and other senses.

What first activates your trigeminal nerves and sets off the migraine is still under debate, but is thought to be one of two things: Some researchers believe that a wave release of neurotransmitters across your cortex can directly stimulate your trigeminal nerves, setting off the chain reaction that ends in the transmitting of pain signals. Others place the root of migraine pain in the brain stem itself, as it is your control center for alertness, perception of light, noise and smell, cerebral blood flow, cardiovascular function and pain sensitivity – many, if not most, of which are part of the symptoms of a migraine attack.

Positron-emission tomography has revealed that three clusters of cells in your brain stem are active during and after migraine. According to this hypothesis, abnormal activity in those cells could induce pain in two ways. These cells normally inhibit trigeminal neurons within your trigeminal nucleus by continuously giving out orders “not to fire.” But, if they do not function or communicate normally, it can allow your trigeminal neurons to “fire at will,” even when there’s no pain signals being received from your brain membrane or blood vessels. Occasional dysfunction in these clusters of cells could therefore explain why some migraine sufferers experience sensitivity to light, sound and odours.

If these findings are correct, they offer a clue as to why migraine medications have been so largely unsuccessful in treating migraine pain. Triptans (tryptamine based drugs), for example, work by binding to serotonin receptors in cranial blood vessels, causing them to constrict. But if your pain is not due to engorged blood vessels (as previously thought) and your blood flow is normal, constricting them is likely to do little good, and potentially a lot of harm. And serious cardiovascular events, including heart attack and stroke, are side effects of these types of drugs.

So What Triggers These Headaches?

There are many potential triggers, and what triggers a migraine for one might not trigger it for another. However, here are several of the most commonly reported triggers:

Food and Drink: Dehydration and/or Hunger are noted as triggers. Additionally, many people experience migraines when they eat certain foods, especially wheat, dairy, sugar, artificial preservatives or chemical additives. Cured or processed meats, alcohol, aspartame, caffeine, food colourings and MSG are common culprits.
Allergies: Including food allergies and food sensitivities, and chemical sensitivities.
Changes in sleeping cycle: Both missing sleep and oversleeping can trigger a migraine.
Stress: Any kind of emotional trauma can trigger a migraine, even after the stress has passed.
Physical exertion: Extremely intense exercise or even sex has been known to bring on migraines.
Hormones: Some women experience migraines before, or during their periods, during pregnancy, or during menopause. Others may get migraines from hormonal medications like birth control pills, or hormone replacement therapy.
External stimuli: Bright lights, fluorescent lights, loud noises and strong smells (even pleasant ones) can trigger a migraine. Weather changes, Seasonal changes, and changes in Altitude.
Headache Medications: Tend to cause more harm than good. A debilitating headache may be one instance where you could justify taking a pill that would give you instant relief. However, please remember that headache medications only work in 50 percent of people, half the time and that they also have intense side effects, including “medication overuse headache” which often occurs when people take too much of a headache drug. Once you taper off the drug, you can also get rebound headaches that can be worse than the original.

Other side effects of migraines drugs include:

Fortunately, there are better ways to treat migraines than pharmaceutical drugs.

Natural Tips for Migraine Relief

Migraine prevention begins by avoiding the triggers. Most often this means eating healthy whole foods, avoiding processed foods, wheat, grains, sugar and all fluids but water. Dealing with stress is another important step. This can be done with meditation, EFT, hypnosis or psychotherapy to name a few effective methods. Regular exercise helps by improving your response to stress along with the underlying inflammatory conditions that can trigger migraines.

The possible impact of other factors such as hormones or allergens may be harder to identify. Practitioners at The Centre For Integrated Health (01730 233 414) can do so using advanced screening technology.

Ideally, these are the things to focus on so that you can reduce your migraines altogether.

But I Have a Migraine Right Now!

If a migraine does strike and you need instant natural relief, there are a few things you can try.

Stimulating your body’s natural painkilling ability. By putting pressure on a nerve just under your eyebrow, you can cause your pituitary gland to release painkilling endorphins immediately.

Taking 10 teaspoons of cayenne pepper in a glass of water. Endorphins are released by your brain when the cayenne hits your stomach lining.

Using Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT). A quick google search for EFT will provide you with instructions. Newcomers who use this simple process by themselves achieve relief 50 percent to 80 percent of the time and, in many cases, the relief is complete and permanent. More sophisticated uses by an EFT expert may be required for some migraine sufferers.

Green apple scent. One study found that the scent significantly relieved migraine pain. This may also work with other scents that you enjoy so consulting with an aromatherapist may be beneficial.

Other useful techniques include:

Conclusion

There are many different methods of migraine relief out there, and different methods will work for different people. You can find what works for you by just experimenting. But your aim should be long-term changes for overall better health and reduction of the occurrence of migraine. Often this can be done in a few simple steps, outlined in this article.

If you would like assistance with your nutritional and lifestyle changes, the expert practitioners at The Centre For Integrated Health can help. Equally, if you have tried everything you can think of with no success, our advanced screening technology will provide the necessary insights to target the precise changes necessary. Just call us on 01730 233 414 or email info@nutrivital.co.uk to find out more.