When a migraine hits, it can really have a negative impact on your day. Migraines can cause debilitating pain and other symptoms that prevent you from participating in the activities you enjoy. A migraine is more than just a bad headache. In fact, migraines are actually a neurological condition that can cause debilitating headaches and other uncomfortable symptoms.
A family history of migraines can put you at greater risk for developing migraines. There are also different types of migraines, which can cause different symptoms. In addition to chiropractic treatment for headaches, there are also things you can do to help with migraines. Here’s what you need to know about migraine symptoms, causes, and tips for migraine relief.
Common Migraine Symptoms
Migraines can cause debilitating headaches that cause severe head pain. People affected by migraines tend to describe this headache pain as throbbing, pounding, or pulsating. Migraine headache pain can also feel like a dull, steady ache in your head. When you develop a migraine headache, it may start out with mild pain that gets worse over time. The more frequently you get migraines, the greater the chances you have of experiencing moderate to severe headache pain. Head pain with migraines typically affects the forehead area, and you may notice the pain on one side of the head. Migraine headaches typically last for an average of 4 hours, though they can also last for days.
In addition to debilitating headaches, migraines can also cause other symptoms that develop even before the headache sets in. The first set of symptoms arrives in what is known as the prodrome stage. These symptoms typically include fatigue or low energy, frequent yawning, and neck stiffness. You might also start to notice mood changes like an increase in depression or irritability. A migraine aura can also occur during the prodrome stage, which can affect your vision, speech, sensations, and movements. If you experience a migraine with aura, symptoms may include seeing spots, flashes, or bright spots, a temporary loss of vision, or a tingling sensation in your face and extremities.
During the attack phase of a migraine, the headache pain sets in, along with other uncomfortable symptoms. Symptoms during the attack phase may be pulsing or throbbing headaches and include increased sensitivity to light and sound, dizziness, lightheadedness, nausea, and vomiting. A migraine attack can leave you feeling fatigued, apathetic, or even euphoric and happy. A dull, aching headache may continue for a few days after the migraine attack.
What Causes Migraines?
There isn’t one specific cause of migraines. Doctors believe migraines and other types of headaches are impacted by abnormal activity in the brain and nervous system. Whether certain nerves are aggravated, compressed, or misfiring, they can send incorrect signals through your nervous system and trigger a migraine.
There are several reasons, both internal and external, why you might develop a migraine. Understanding these triggers is the key to managing and preventing migraine attacks.
Environmental Triggers
Your environment can play a major role in migraine occurrences. Some common environmental triggers include:
- Bright Lights: Harsh lighting, especially fluorescent or strobe lights, can overstimulate the brain, causing a migraine.
- Loud Noises: Sudden or intense sounds can act as stressors, irritating the nervous system and setting off a migraine episode.
- Weather Changes: Changes in weather, such as a sudden drop in temperature or a change in barometric pressure, can disrupt your body and trigger migraines.
- Strong Odors: Certain scents, like perfumes, chemicals, or smoke, can irritate the sensory system, triggering a migraine response.
Hormonal Fluctuations
For many people, particularly women, hormone fluctuations can be a powerful migraine trigger. The hormonal shifts that occur before or during a woman’s menstrual cycle can lead to migraines, often referred to as menstrual migraines. Hormonal changes during pregnancy can increase the likelihood of migraines. The transition into menopause involves fluctuating hormone levels, which can also contribute to migraine attacks.
Stress and Emotional Factors
Emotional well-being may also play a role in the onset of migraines. Stress is one of the most common triggers for many people because of how the body responds to tension by triggering a migraine. Anxiety, depression, or emotional stress can cause or exacerbate migraines.
Lifestyle Factors
Certain lifestyle habits and behaviors can increase the frequency and intensity of your migraines, including:
- Dehydration: Not drinking enough water can lead to dehydration, which is a known migraine trigger.
- Skipping Meals: Going long periods without eating or irregular eating habits can cause blood your blood sugar to fluctuate, triggering a migraine.
- Sleep Patterns: Poor sleep quality, lack of sleep, or irregular sleep schedules can disrupt your body’s natural rhythms, leading to migraine episodes.
- Substance Use: Excessive alcohol consumption, especially red wine or smoking, can aggravate the nervous system and trigger a migraine.
- Underlying Health Conditions: Other health issues, such as neck or back problems, temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders, or even chronic illnesses, can set the stage for migraine development.
Keeping Track of Your Triggers
One of the most effective ways to understand your migraine triggers is to keep a detailed headache journal. By tracking the details of each migraine attack, you can identify patterns and connections between your lifestyle, environment, and migraine onset. This information can even help inform tactics for quick migraine relief. Be sure to include information about:
- Diet: What did you eat and drink that day? Were there any foods or drinks that you suspect contributed to the headache?
- Activities: Were you doing stressful activities or physical exertion? Did any specific movements or postures play a role?
- Sleep Quality: How well did you sleep the night before? Did your sleep cycle seem irregular or insufficient?
- Medications: Were you taking any medications, including over-the-counter drugs or prescribed treatments, around the time the migraine started?
By keeping track of this information, you can develop a clearer understanding of what factors may be contributing to your migraines, which can help you avoid triggers and manage your condition more effectively.
5 Tips for Instant Migraine Relief
Thankfully, there are many ways to effectively manage your migraine attacks. Your chiropractor can talk to you about how to prepare for migraines and healthily adjust your lifestyle to decrease your symptoms. Here are five tips for immediate migraine relief:
Create a Calm Environment
Migraine symptoms can get worse if you are in a loud, bright, and crowded environment. If you feel a migraine coming on, one of the best things you can do for yourself is to create a calm environment. If possible, remove yourself from the hustle and bustle of your day and retreat to a quiet, dark place. You may prefer your bedroom for a calm environment where you can dim or turn off the lights and appreciate the silence.
Because a migraine can cause you to be more sensitive to light and sound, avoiding these triggers can help. If you can, lie down and close your eyes or rest. Applying a cool compress to your forehead or back of the neck may also provide you with some quick relief. If your muscles are tense, then a warm bath or shower can help you relax. A heating pad or hot pack can also help relax tense muscles that may be aggravating your migraine symptoms.
Get a Good Night’s Sleep
A good night’s sleep has so many health benefits for your whole body. When you are not well-rested, this can actually trigger a migraine for you. The pain and other symptoms of a migraine may also keep you from getting a good night’s sleep. Migraines can make it difficult to fall asleep, or the uncomfortable symptoms may wake you up throughout the night. Establishing healthy sleep habits as part of your daily routine can help ward off migraines and also ease the symptoms when they do happen.
Determine a set schedule for sleep and try to go to sleep and wake up at the same time every day, even on your days off. Developing a nighttime routine can also help your body prepare for getting a good night’s sleep. Try to participate in activities that help you relax at the end of the day, like taking a warm bath or reading a book before bed. Avoid distractions like watching television or checking emails in your bed, and instead, keep your room as a place for relaxing only.
Manage Stress in Your Life
Stress is a major trigger for migraines. If you have a lot of stress in your life, it can start to impact your body physically. When you are stressed, you tend to tense your muscles and stay on high alert. You may notice your shoulders are creeping up toward your chin or that you are clenching or grinding your teeth at night. Managing the stress in your life can go a long way to improving your quality of life, including preventing future migraines.
While you won’t be able to avoid all types of stress in your life, there are certain stress factors in your life that you do have more control over. Working from a to-do list can help with time management so you are better able to visualize what needs to get done throughout the day. Giving yourself the space and grace to make mistakes and take a break when you need it can also relieve stress. Practice positive affirmations and other ways of improving your attitude and outlook on life. Being intentional about relaxing throughout your day also helps reduce the emotional and physical effects of stress on your body.
Eat a Well-Balanced Diet
A well-balanced diet is about more than just eating healthy foods. What types of foods you put in your body have a significant impact on your overall well-being. Eating foods rich in protein and vitamins provides your body with the nutrients it needs to function at its best. Setting a consistent schedule for when you eat meals throughout your day also helps. In fact, skipping meals or fasting can actually increase your risk of developing a migraine. In addition to the foods you eat, it is important to stay hydrated throughout your day.
Your body needs water to function in so many different ways, and staying hydrated helps ward off other issues. When you do experience migraines, it can be helpful to note what foods or drinks you had around that time. Keeping a journal of your eating habits around a migraine attack can help you identify potential food triggers. Some people have certain foods they avoid, like chocolate or caffeine, because they trigger migraines.
Get Regular Exercise
Getting regular exercise is another way to keep your whole body healthy while also helping with migraine relief. When you exercise, your body releases certain chemicals and hormones that affect pain signals in your brain. These chemicals and hormones can also improve your mood and reduce stress, the latter of which is a known trigger of migraines. When you exercise regularly, you are helping keep both your mind and body in shape. Getting your heart rate up keeps blood, oxygen, and other nutrients moving effectively through your body. You don’t have to get a gym membership to reap the benefits of regular exercise. Even incorporating a walk around the neighborhood in your daily routine can help.
Chiropractic Care for Long-Lasting Migraine Relief
When lifestyle changes are not enough to help with migraine relief, a chiropractor can help. Chiropractic care has been known to provide long-lasting migraine relief and prevent future migraine attacks. Chiropractors can address a wide range of issues that affect your spine, brain, nervous system, and musculoskeletal system. A chiropractor can assess you for migraines and provide you with an accurate diagnosis of your headache pain. Chiropractors can also develop individualized treatment plans that help manage and prevent headaches like migraines. Your treatment plan will be personalized because of your age, frequency of attacks, the severity of attacks, and what types of symptoms you are dealing with during a migraine. Talk to your chiropractor about how long your migraines typically last and whether or not they keep you from going to work or school. Your chiropractor will also want to determine if you are dealing with a migraine with or without aura because this can also influence your treatment plan.
Chiropractic Treatment for Headaches
Whether you experience migraines sporadically or are dealing with chronic migraines, there are chiropractic treatment options for headaches. There are many ways your chiropractor may approach your treatment for migraine relief. Here are some examples of chiropractic treatment for headaches like migraines.
Chiropractic Adjustments
Chiropractic adjustments involve gently manipulating the spine to restore proper posture. When the vertebrae in your spine are even slightly out of alignment, it can impact nearby nerves and the healthy functioning of your nervous system. Your chiropractor will identify any misalignments in your spine and use this gentle and safe technique to resolve the misalignments.
Soft Tissue Therapy
Chiropractic care can also involve hands-on manipulation and soft tissue therapy. Your back has muscles, ligaments, and other soft tissues that work together to provide your spine with stability and support. Muscles can become weakened due to poor posture, and therapeutic massage and other soft tissue therapy techniques can help promote strength and healthy functioning.
Stretches & Exercises
Your chiropractor may also walk you through stretches and exercises that can offer you instant migraine relief at home. Stretching can help ease tension in your muscles and promote flexibility. Certain exercises can also help improve healthy blood flow and target specific areas of weakness to help strengthen and stabilize your muscles.
Lifestyle Changes & Education
Your chiropractor may also talk to you about how certain lifestyle changes can help you experience lasting fast migraine relief. Talking with you about healthy habits like eating well, staying hydrated, and getting a good night’s sleep can go a long way to supporting a healthier you.
AICA Orthopedics in Atlanta
Learn more about how you can experience lasting migraine relief with Atlanta chiropractors at AICA Orthopedics. Our team of walk-in chiropractors and headache doctors has the tools you need to tackle your migraines once and for all.