Migraine, when it happens, can give us glimpses of hell on earth. It is almost impossible to concentrate on work while suffering migraine attack. To put it simply, migraine is a type of headache, which can bring about intense throbbing pain or a pulsing sensation. It generally occurs on one side of the head.
In fact, it is not your usual headache at all, and its duration can range from hours to days. The usual characteristics of migraine are nausea and vomiting, and high degree of sensitivity to light and sound. Menstruating women can also suffer from menstrual-related migraines. Right before the arrival of monthly period, the content of two female hormones named estrogen and progesterone, drops in the female body, which can bring about throbbing headaches in some women.
Migraines can affect people of varied age groups, ranging from children to adults, and there are four stages of migraine attack, which are prodrome, aura, attack and post-drome. However, not all sufferers of migraine attack experience all these four stages.
Medications can facilitate in preventing migraine attack or making its pain less severe. Of course, there are drug-free home remedies for migraines too, which may facilitate in preventing migraines, or reducing their intensity and duration. However, it is always advisable to take doctor’s help for getting cure from cases of severe migraine attacks than opting for migraine home treatment.
Cool Remedy
Putting an ice pack on your forehead, scalp or neck can give you relief from migraine or alleviate the migraine pain. Applying frozen gel pack or a wash cloth rinsed in cold water on the above-mentioned areas may also be helpful in mitigating migraine.
Applying cold compress in neck, scalp or forehead for 15 minutes may yield the result. Diming the lights of your room while having cold compress can add to the pace of relief.
The Healing Touch
Taking acupressure from an expert can be explored as one of the home remedies for migraines. In the ancient healing science of acupressure, hands are used to apply pressure on specific points of the body to get relief from different ailments.
According to a 2010 study, which was published in The American Journal of Chinese Medicine, the researchers examined for a month two groups of participants who were suffering from chronic headaches. One group was treated with acupressure, and the other with muscle relaxants. The researchers discovered that acupressure was more effective at relieving pain, and its effects were longer lasting than that of the muscle relaxants.
However, to get the pressure points right you need to get acupressure administered by an expert. You can learn about the acupressure points on your own too through educational videos, but that learning would not happen in a day. A study also deciphered that acupressure may help relieve migraine-associated nausea.
Herbal Remedies
Another of the home remedies for migraines may come through inhaling of lavender essential oil. One can also apply diluted lavender oil on temples to get the same result. Lavender oil has the potential to give you migraine relief at home.
Peppermint oil may also help you get relief from migraine. In fact, menthol in peppermint oil can even prevent a migraine from entering your head.
Among other home remedies for migraine headache, another herbal remedy through feverfew can also be helpful. In the 1980s, a study revealed that more than 70 percent of participants in the study had suffered less migraine pain after daily intake of feverfew. Since then, more studies have also shown feverfew’s role in preventing and curing migraine pain. One can take feverfew supplements in dosage of 50-150 mg per day to prevent migraine.
Magnesium Rich Diet
Having magnesium deficiency can be often associated with migraines and other types of headaches. There were studies which revealed that magnesium oxide supplementation facilitates in preventing migraines with aura and may also prevent menstrual-related migraines.
Finding indicates that magnesium deficiency is more common among people who suffer frequent bouts of migraine headaches, as compared to those who don’t. Almond, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, peanut butter, oatmeal, egg, milk and cashew are some of the food whose intake on a regular basis can help you get your required daily dosage of magnesium. Adequate magnesium intake in your daily diet can be one of the natural remedies for migraines. However magnesium rich diet can act as a preventive step against migraine. Having adequate magnesium in your diet has the potential to prevent migraine attacks. However, when migraine arrives, taking magnesium rich diet would not give you quick relief or any relief, of course.
It is much better to have more magnesium in your diet to counter magnesium deficiency than taking magnesium supplements, which can cause diarrhea in some people.
Go for Biofeedback
If your migraine is because of physical reactions to stress which include muscle tensing, then opting for a relaxation method named biofeedback may be helpful to get relief. The technique of biofeedback can help you to control some of your body’s functions. During biofeedback, you are connected to electrical sensors that help to receive ‘feedback’ or information about your body functions such as heartbeat, brain waves, etc. Do take the help of a qualified therapist to conduct biofeedback for reducing migraines.
However, if any one or some of these home remedies for migraines don’t yield the desired result, don’t hesitate to visit a doctor with urgency to get relief from migraine.
It should be pointed out that none of the above-mentioned methods has the certainty to give you relief from migraine but they can give you relief from migraine. Or in other words, they have the potential to give you relief from migraine.
FAQs
If you visit a doctor for consultation, chances are you may get rid of migraine quicker than you could do by opting for home remedies. Or you can have over the counter painkillers like acetaminophen or ibuprofen to get quick relief from migraine.
However, if you try natural migraine relief at home then going for cold compress on forehead, scalp or neck can give you fast relief. Making a cold compress is easy. Just fill a waterproof bag with ice and wrap it in a soft towel to get this natural headache relief option. Opting for acupressure can also be quick way to get natural migraine relief at home.
But none of these remedies has the exact certainty to give you relief from migraine, though they can give you relief from migraine or alleviate its pain. Or in other words, they have the potential to get you relief from migraine.
Tea, coffee or any beverage which has little amount of caffeine in it can be helpful.If you drink it/them when the headache has just started, the migraine may ease away quickly.
Caffeine perks up mood, enhances alertness and constricts blood vessels, which has the potential to alleviate migraine symptoms. However, caffeine should be taken in moderation. If you take large amounts of caffeine on a regular basis and suddenly stop, then caffeine withdrawal may also cause headache.
To get relief from migraine, the most important pressure point in acupressure is the space between the base of your thumb and your index finger. It is called LI-4 or Hegu. GB20 points(located in the back of the neck at the base of the skull), the Tai Yang point in the grooves of your temples are other acupressure points where acupressure can give you relief from migraine.
If you are not taking acupressure then you can gently rub your temples with fingertips, and also massage your entire forehead and scalp. This may yield some relief from migraine pain.
