And So it is Health: The truth about Migraines
It’s Friday.
Nothing planned for this weekend other than school work as I have no life and a test on Tuesday…
Just came back from the campus market. I initially went to get a lint brush, but came away with about five bucks worth of candy most of which are personal migraine triggers (blame my ovaries), and as I sit here feasting on these Twizzlers that I know I’ll pay for later, I’m realizing that most people don’t really even know what Migraines are.
I think it’s time for an edition of And So it is Health
And So it is Health: The truth about Migraines
Take your hand and make a fist. Using the knuckle of your index finger, apply pressure to the temple of your head. Do you feel that kind of dull pain? Multiply that by about three and imagine that it’s not only there, but also behind your eye, above your eyebrow, and in that area behind your ear that connects your head to your neck.
Imagine that not only do those areas of your head hurt, but you are also a bit nauseous and any noise or light in the area intensifies everything making you uncomfortable. Also you might have distortions in your vision or difficulty speaking, numbness…similar to a very minor stroke…
That’s what migraines are like.
A lot of people confuse these with just regular headaches, but headaches and migraines are actually very different. Those are caused by the vasoconstriction of blood vessels around the brain while migraines are caused by vasodilatation. Taking something like Advil for a migraine may not work and could also make the pain worse as those medicines are designed to dilate blood vessels, the opposite of what would actually help.
Most migraine victims have triggers like personally mine are Twizzlers, excessive caffeine, changes in weather, but for others it may happen for no reason, or also by triggers in what they eat, etc.
As for treatment?
For me it depends on what I have to do or what other medicines I’m taking. Excedrin Migraine doesn’t work for me anymore because I’ve adapted to it…that happens a lot for many migraine sufferers. Now I take Imietrex and it usually works pretty well, but it always leaves me a little sore. When it doesn’t work though, life is sad and there is only Vicks Vapor Rub, buckets of ice and despair (lol)…
Luckily though I believe mine are only moderate…
I’ve head of people getting surgery on their noses and the back of their necks to relieve tension…that’s still a new procedure though so I guess the world will see how that works.
Anyway there’s some insight into Migraines. Hope you were enlightened.
Random Facts
More people died from Migrainous Stroke last year than were murdered with handguns.
Migraine headaches are three times more common in women than in men.
The pain of migraine occurs when excited brain cells trigger the trigeminal nerve to release chemicals that irritate and cause swelling of blood vessels on the surface of the brain.
Each individual attack usually lasts from 4 to 72 hours.
