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Symptoms and treatment of migraine headaches

Posted Mar 16 2009 4:21pm

Tell most people the word 'migraine' and immediately they think 'headache'. But the pain in the head is just one of many symptoms of migraine headaches, which is a neurological disorder. The migraine is a relapse, thriving, usually unilateral, headache. Usually has moderate to high intensity and, in most cases can be aggravated by everyday, simple, physical activity. The treatment of migraine headaches includes medication and other more natural methods.

Symptoms of migraine headaches

Headache causes include nausea and vomiting, and intolerance to light, sounds and smells. In some cases there are disturbances of vision, as illumination. These visual disturbances called "aura" and they are presented to the 15% of migraine sufferers.

The migraine occurs three times more often in women than in men. Estimated that 18% of women and 6% of men suffer from migraines. If you know someone who has migraine headache crises probably you can understand how painful and debilitating they are. The migraine can have serious negative effects on all aspects of our life.

What are the symptoms of migraine headaches?

Learning the symptoms of migraine headaches, you can easily see if your headaches are migraines or not.

Usually in the migraine headache pains begins as dull and develops vibrant, pulsating pain. The pain can be transferred from one side of the head to another and can be found in front of or around the head. The frequency of migraines crisis varies considerably from person to person. Many patients experience two to four migraine crises a month. Some, however, may have migraines every few days, while in others they appear only once or twice a year.

When the pain is identified on one side of the head then this is the most easily recognizable symptom of migraine, but not the only one. The migraine may also be accompanied by:

Aura

The aura is a phase of migraine headache crisis that occurs in a small percentage of sufferers. The symptoms may include impairment of vision, hearing, smell, taste or touch. The aura may last from minutes to an hour. The visual aura is the most common type of aura and can include illumination or sparking figures (moving right before your eyes) in your vision.

Feel sick

Intolerance to light, sounds, odours or movement.

Other symptoms associated with migraine headaches may be:

Stomach discomfort, abdominal pain
Loss of appetite
Fatigue
Vertigo
Diarrhoea

Duration of a migraine headache crisis

A migraine episode can last for days and can present up to four phases. Knowing and understanding your migraine will help you to control it better. The phases of migraine headaches can be classified into 4 stages.

Phase 1: Before the headache

This phase may precede the event 24 hours or more. Some patients feel euphoria, fatigue, diarrhoea, intense thirst or hunger.

Phase 2: Aura

It may be visual, sensory, or mixed and it is present in 15% of the cases

Phase 3: Headache

The headache is usually located on one side of the head and lasts for a few hours to three days. Symptoms include

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