One of the most painful inconveniences in this world is a headache. Specifically, a headache that leads to a migraine or becomes a chronic migraine. The disturbance a headache can cause to your day can really set you back when you have responsibilities to handle. Think about it, your head is in pain at the moment so you can’t focus on the task that you may need to do since the pain is prevalent. Now if that’s how a regular headache makes you feel, then imagine a migraine. Imagine suffering from chronic migraines for longer periods of time with little to no actual relief. How do you maneuver with chronic migraines? You take over-the-counter medications but they aren’t helping at all “so what now?” you may ask yourself. Well, what about something you can try at home? What about natural remedies?
There are headaches and migraines, but what actually is chronic migraine? Is it a name to scare you into thinking something is worse than what it truly is? The answer to that is no, it’s a very serious condition that many people suffer from daily.
Chronic migraine is when a person has 15 or more continuous headache days a month for 3 months and over.
These prolonged headaches will have symptoms of a migraine, which altogether classifies them as chronic migraines.
You may be experiencing chronic migraines for many reasons. Your episodic migraine has developed into a pattern and is no longer just episodes that you experience.
Mood disorders such as depression and anxiety, obesity, severe emotional or physical trauma, a disordered sleep pattern and consuming excessive amounts of caffeine may also contribute to chronic migraines.
You could also be experiencing chronic migraines because of the over-the-counter medications you take to relieve headaches. These types of medications can actually lead to the development of chronic headaches, especially if they are being overused.
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With severe and prolonged migraines, there are many symptoms that are common knowledge such as severe head pain, throbbing, sensitivity to light and dizziness. Those are common symptoms that you could assume appear with chronic migraines but what about the symptoms that you probably didn’t even notice?
Symptoms that can also come from chronic migraines are prodrome symptoms and these begin to happen one to two days before a migraine starts. They include food cravings, mood changes, stiffness in the neck, constipation and an increase in how much you’re peeing.
Other symptoms are vision loss, pins and needles in the legs, difficulty speaking and visual phenomena. These are categorized as aura symptoms, which are symptoms that affect the nervous system and come after the prodrome.
Once these two stages of a migraine hit, then comes the attacks, which are the common symptoms you know about, and then it is the post-drome. This means the period after your migraines where you feel out of it or drained and confused.
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There are a few ways that you can get instant relief when trying to get rid of headaches or migraine pains. One way is through touch. If you have access to a shower then try this: turn on rain sounds from any electronic device you have (Youtube offers so many), get in the shower at a lukewarm temperature and stand under the water without letting it touch your head. Begin to massage your scalp for 5-7 minutes or however long you would like.
For those of you who do not wish to massage your scalp when experiencing symptoms, substitute it for a cold compress or ice pack and place it on your forehead or the back of your neck.
This method helps alleviate pain and release tensions at the moment while you can. If you do not have access to the shower, then simply use the rain sounds, massage and ice pack instead.
Taking B12 vitamins can help when dealing with chronic migraines because low B12 levels can be linked to migraines. Using a diffuser with essential oils in it such as lavender, trying acupressure to relieve muscle tension and even using herbs and supplements such as white willow, butterbur and magnesium (supplement), can all help when dealing with chronic migraines. Sometimes medicine isn’t enough or can cause more damage down the line. Using natural remedies has and will always be effective when it comes to treatment, even when being used with prescribed or store-bought medicine. Try it out and see what works for you.
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