Tips to Prevent Migraine Headaches
Neurologist & Mind-Body Doc Shares Natural
Migraine Prevention Tips
I suffered my first migraine when I was six years old and, by the time I was 13, I began to get them at least once a month. Migraines became such a part of my life that I could predict my menstrual cycle by them. They always hit the day before my period began and there was nothing, short of going to sleep, that I could do to stop a migraine in its tracks. My father suffered from debilitating migraines, my husband gets them and both of my daughters suffer from migraines as well. This is hardly surprising, I learned while researching for this post. According to the Migraine Research Foundation, migraines run in families. If one parent suffers from migraine, there is a 40% chance their child will suffer. That number goes up to 90% if both parents suffer from migraines. My girls didn’t stand a chance.
Here are a few other statistics on migraine from the Migraine Research Foundation:
About 18% of American women and 6% of men get them.
About 10% of school-age children suffer from migraine.
Half of all migraine sufferers have their first attack before the age of 12. Migraine has even been reported in children as young as 18 months old.
Migraine is most common during the peak productive years, between the ages of 25 and 55.
Migraine ranks in the top 20 of the world’s most disabling medical illnesses.
Every 10 seconds, someone in the United States goes to the emergency room with a headache or migraine.
Attacks are often accompanied by one or more of the following: visual disturbances, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, extreme sensitivity to sound, light, touch and smell, and tingling or numbness in the extremities or face.
What’s a migraine sufferer to do?
“The key to preventing headaches is, of course, to figure out what’s triggering them,” says Dr. Romie Mushtaq, http://www.BrainBodyBeauty.com, a neurologist and mind-body physician. “While migraine and stress headaches can both be triggered by stress, migraines have many other possible triggers and they vary from one individual to the next.”
“It’s so important to educate people who suffer from headaches, especially migraines. There are many misconceptions about them,” she says. “I’ve had patients tell me they don’t have migraines because their headache isn’t accompanied by vomiting. Or they’ve been told they just have a low threshold for pain, even that they have no willpower!”
Dr. Romie advises patients to begin ruling out possible triggers.
“Start eliminating common food triggers from your diet, such as wine, chocolate and gluten, and if the headaches become less frequent or go away altogether, slowly add each item back,” she says. “It may quickly become apparent what’s triggering your headaches.”
If not, she shares other possible triggers people are not aware of:
• Are you getting enough sleep?
Migraines can be triggered by sleep deprivation. A lack of sleep can actually lead to structural changes in the proteins of the brain that make the trigeminal nerve more sensitive to pain. The trigeminal nerve supplies sensation to the face, head and meninges – the membranes surrounding the brain — and it is the nerve pathway that is the foundation of the where migraine headaches start.
When we are stressed, our sleep gets disturbed, and headaches are often one of the first signs. Creating a routine at night to reduce stress prior to bedtime is a key. If you can’t sleep because of headache pain, talk to your doctor about the temporary use of sleep-aid medications.
Also, avoid caffeine after 12 p.m.
• Are you drinking enough water?
If you start feeling pressure or a dull headache at work, especially in the afternoon, it may be that you’re not drinking enough water during the day. Dehydration can cause fatigue, loss of focus and mid-day stress, which can trigger headaches, including migraines. Be sure to drink water throughout the day.
If you’re having trouble identifying your headache trigger, consider this natural therapy:
• Feverfew for prevention:
Feverfew is one of many effective herbs studied for preventing migraine headaches — it has been studied in adults, but not children or pregnant women. The typical dose is 85 to 100 mg daily. If you’re experiencing more than two migraine headaches a month, you may want to try this natural supplement. I don’t recommend one brand over another; since brands are not regulated by the FDA, there is no scientific way to prove one is superior to another.
While these tips may help you gain control over your headaches, remember – anyone who has recurring headaches should see a physician, Dr. Romie says.
Dr. Romie has counseled thousands of headache sufferers and will launch a six-week online seminar, Heal Your Headaches beginning on April 8th. She guides participants through ruling out various triggers, and shares traditional and holistic treatment options, among other information.
About Dr. Romie Mushtaq
Dr. Romie is a mind-body medicine physician and neurologist. She did her medical education and training at the Medical University of South Carolina, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and University of Michigan, where she won numerous teaching and research awards. She brings to healing both her expertise of traditional Western training and Eastern modalities of mindfulness. She is currently a corporate health consultant and professional health and wellness life coach at the Center for Natural and Integrative Medicine in Orlando, Florida. She is also an international professional speaker, addressing corporate audiences, health and wellness conferences and non-profit organizations. Interested in participating in Dr. Romie’s online educational headache seminar. Register for the first FREE call to learn about the different types of headaches at http://www.healyourheadaches.com
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