Saturday, December 1, 2007

Migraine Headache Medication- Time To Consider Herbal Remedies

Robert William Locke.

Conventional medication treatments for migraine are often expensive, have nasty side effects and frequently are ineffective. This may mean you will have to seek alternative remedies for your migraine - very often these are more effective in allowing you to resume your normal daily activity.

The causes of migraine headache are unknown. Nobody knows precisely what is the trigger. But prevention very often is useful as it will reduce the severity of the attacks and also their frequency. The symptoms will vary and very often are connected in some way to the patient\'s diet, stress levels and his or her immune responses

The conventional treatment for migraine is painkillers , the best known ones which are Sumatripan or Imitrex. Drug treatment for migraine is classified as abortive (aimed at relieving acute attacks) and prophylactic (aimed at preventing episodic migraine from becoming recurrent and preventing recurrences in patients with chronic migraine). Treatment for migraine differs greatly, it has been found, depending on whether the prescribing physician is a general practitioner or a neurologist.

When an attack comes on, it is useful to find a quiet dark room and apply ice to your forehead. No trials have been done as yet on these measures as they are non pharmological and nobody is interested as they are not likely to make money from this ! Migraine sufferers are always trying to find ways to prevent migraine attacks.

Diet will come under a lot of scutiny and every migraineur (migraine sufferer) will have identified certain foods which seem to bring on an attack. Explaining to your boss that you are a migraineur will also help as you will need more breaks. Time lost here will be nothing to the time you have to take off if you actually get an attack. Look at your posture and your seating arrangements at the computer as tightening neck muscles and slouching can bring on an attack.

Feverfew has been used for a long tme in Europe as a cure for arthritis, headache, migraine and also as a general painkiller. Manual therapies such as acupuncture, hypnosis and shiatsu are also used with success in treating migraine. Another natural remedy is the herbal solution one where the nutrients are used to treat this condition.

The mineral magnesium which is found in fish, soya, nuts , seeds and whole grains has been found to be on of the most promising nutrients for treating migraine. Reserachers have also found that if you mix fish oil with magnesium taurate, then this is one of the most effective alternative remedies available. This mineral seems to be able to reduce the number of spasms in the blood vessels which cause the pain. Vitamin B2 is also showing promising results.

Migraineurs are unhappy taking conventional medications for a long period because of the side effects. Some seek a complete change and a herbal remedy could well be the solution.

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