Most of us have, on occasion suffered from a splitting headache that interfered with enjoying our day or doing our work. 75% of all headaches are tension related and are triggered by muscular tension in the skull, eyes neck & shoulders. While most headaches are easily controlled by a scalp & neck massage or taking some aspirin, some headaches go beyond being merely a painful nuisance. This is the case with some vascular, migraine headaches.
How to Distinguish a Migraine from other Headaches
- Migraines are always one sided in their effect in the area of the scalp, face & eye area. This is one distinct quality that separates them from the more common tension headaches.
- Most migraine attacks occur only once or twice a month & last less than an hour. For some unfortunate people, the attacks can occur almost daily & can last over 24 hours.
- Some migraines are very intense with throbbing pain while others can be mild.
- Migraines can have an aura (flashing light sensations) or no aura.
Some people even have the aura with no headache.
- Some people can experience temporary paralysis on one side and even numbness of the extremities of the face.
- Migraines can cause loss of vision in one eye.
Migraine headaches are thought to occur when blood vessels in the brain dilate. Brain tissue itself does not feel pain but tissues in & around the brain can feel various levels of pain. Nerve irritation can also disturb the blood & lymph circulation causing swelling of the affected tissues in the skull.
Many sufferers worry that their pain is brought on by an undetected brain tumor but in fact less than 0.5% of headache patients have this. 90% of headaches have no sign of underlying disease.
The Cost to Migraine Sufferers
More than 30 million Americans suffer from migraines headaches, with women being affected 3 times more than men. Migraine victims alone lose over 94 million workdays each year because of headaches. 70-80 % of migraine sufferers have a family history of migraines. Each individual attack usually lasts from 4 to 72 hours. Surprisingly, less than half of all migraine sufferers have received a diagnosis from their health practitioner. Unfortunately, too many migraines are often misdiagnosed as sinus or tension headaches.
A number of symptoms can occur just before the headache begins, such as the visual aura, difficulty thinking or speaking, localized numbness, a feeling of weakness in a limb or side of the body, confusion, and in rare cases vertigo. In some people, the attack is so intense it triggers vomiting.
Recent studies have shown that several major events occur in the brains of people who have migraine headaches. Localized inflammation, reduced production of energy, low magnesium levels & high levels of glutamate, (found in foods & spices). It seems that most physicians who treat migraines ignore the strong connection between migraine attacks and high levels of glutamate in the blood & spinal fluid. Dr Ray Blaylock, a medical researcher said, “It makes no sense to pump patients full of drugs and narcotics and never tell them that their diet is a major source of their problem. Glutamate increases sensitivity to all types of pain. Many processed foods contain several forms of glutamate additives.”
