Migraines are a common condition that many people of varying ages experience at some point in their lives – some more chronically than others. Migraines differ from ‘normal’ headaches due to their severity level, intensity, and other accompanying symptoms such as nausea, dizziness or sensitivity to light.
There are certain factors in your life that can trigger a migraine and/or make the intensity worse. Awareness of these triggers can help you identify your migraine cause and learn what to avoid/how to work through them when they occur.
Common Migraine Triggers Include:
1. Stress
Stress can cause various responses within your body and many times is the underlying cause of many illnesses or chronic conditions. When you are stressed your brain sends signals throughout your body causing various reactions – some of which include migraines. Working to keep your daily stress levels to a minimum and/or using techniques such as deep breathing, meditation or exercise can help release the endorphins you need and bring your body and mind a sense of relaxation and lower the severity of your symptoms.
2. Sleep Patterns
When your body and brain do not get enough rest it can be difficult for you to keep up with all your daily activities. Implementing a regular sleep schedule can help mitigate migraine attacks – especially ensuring you sleep through the night to avoid morning migraine attacks. Irregular sleep schedules in general can trigger migraine attacks.
3. Dehydration
Drinking enough water daily is an important factor in creating pristine health conditions in general. Lack of hydration can also be responsible for triggering migraines and/or heighten symptoms. Dehydration can also bring on dizziness which is another common symptom of migraines. Keeping track of your daily water intake can help ensure you are always adequately hydrated.
4. Weather Changes
Changing seasons and the constant change of temperatures & air pressure can also have an effect on your migraine health. Humidity and overheating (which often go along with dehydration) can quickly cause a migraine to occur and can increase the intensity of symptoms.
Treatments
Now that you are aware of some of the common triggers of migraines, you can work proactively to try to prevent them as well as trakc your activities prior to a migraine attack in order to figure out what your personal triggers may be. Thankfully, when migraines become a chronic issue in your life, there are various treatment options that can not only help manage your symptoms, but also help the issue heal over time.
One of the more common treatments of migraines is use of medication to help relieve symptoms of an acute attack. While this does help temporarily relieve the issue, it may not be the best treatment for those who have recurring issues. In addition to acute relief medications, there are also medications that offer long-term relief with little to no other drug interactions. These can be helpful to help prevent attacks over a period of time.
For those who do not respond well to medication, or who are in need of additional relief to treat the issue at the source, Botox is also an effective solution to rid your body of migraines. Botox works via small injections of medication around the head/areas of pain to help numb the area. Overtime, this helps many people reduce or eliminate migraines and the associated pains. Many times, it can take a combination of treatments to help eliminate chronic migraines and their severity.
If you would like to be evaluated for migraines and would like to seek treatment, you can call our office or visit the new patient appointment page to schedule an appointment.