My name is Dr Komal Naik and I’m a general neurologist. I’m here today to talk to you about your migraines. Migraines can seem overwhelming and daunting at times, but they don’t need to be. So I’m here to help.
Identifying your triggers
Triggers can be readily identified but not always. The more common triggers we know about are food or alcohol, which can be avoided but there are triggers that may be more difficult to avoid. Hormones for example. Migraines affect women way more than men and their menstrual cycles are often a big trigger for their migraines. Sleep deprivation can trigger a migraine. Sleep can trigger a migraine. Again sometimes it’s not by choice. People may have young children at home, or work at different shifts. Weather is known trigger for migraines. Often where there’s a change in front or a drop in barometric pressure, it can trigger a migraine.
Pain meds aren’t always enough
We commonly refer to these as analgesics. And though it can help with pain relief there are certain features of migraines that it won’t address. GI symptoms nausea and vomiting are common features that almost automatically make someone’s headaches a migraine. These don’t respond to over the counter medications. There are anti-nausea medications that can help but often best addressed by treating them with migraine medication. Migraine patients often suffer from something called an aura. It is often a vision disturbance, flashing lights, color scintillations, halos, change in peripheral vision, can even be a loss of vision. That is something that can often be the beginning of a migraine and not treated by over the counter medicine. Part of the migraines can be sensitivity to light and sound and it can be very disruptive. Dizziness can also be sometimes seen in the midst of a migraine and it’s difficult to manage and treat. Fatigue and maybe even a sleep disturbance and change in sleep patterns can also accompany a migraine. That’s also something that’s very difficult to manage and not typically addressed with over-the-counter pain relievers.
Know when to rethink your migraine treatment plan
There are some signs that you may benefit from adjusting your migraine treatment plan. Frequency, severity, duration of your migraines in total if you’re averaging 4 to 5 headache days a month, it may be times to talk to your doctor. In an ideal world, you taking migraine medication and the medication should work pretty quickly and you should have relief in about 2 hours. The reality is, migraines can linger on and on for several hours but shouldn’t spill into days. The migraine, even if it goes on for several hours should be tolerable and not severe. And we talked about the frequency and the number of actual migraine episodes should be episodic and not a daily thing.
The Bottom Line
Migraine treatment has significantly evolved over the last several years and there are so many good treatment options. It’s time to talk to your doctor about your migraines.
Neurofeedback one such solution. It is a non-invasive, computer-based system that monitors brainwaves in real time and can make very minor adjustments to brainwave patterns that trigger migraines. The process is completely safe, and most people find it very enjoyable.
If you live in Orlando and are looking for a permanent solution that uses no medications, neurofeedback may be right for you.
Watch the full video here:
https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/neurologist-explains-actually-manage-migraine-173853908.html
