Headaches
What is it? Migraines previously were thought to be a result of abnormal dilation of blood vessels in the brain, but scientists now believe that the cause may be more complex, and involve inherited differences in brain chemistry. A migraine is a headache with throbbing pain that is usually worse on one side of the head. The pain is often severe enough to hamper daily activities and may last from four hours to three days if untreated.
Statistics: More than one in 10 Americans, including one in 6 women, have migraines, but many have been told mistakenly that they have a sinus or tension headache. Foods, stress, and hormones can be migraine triggers.
Nearly 30 million Americans get migraines, which can range mild to severe headaches.
Important Facts: When migraine duration is longer than three or four days, it’s called status migrainous and requires immediate medical attention because it increases your risk of stroke.
Treatment Duration: In the older days before the ‘90’s and the advent of the triptans, people were basically treating migraines by putting patients to sleep. What made sumatriptan or Imitrex the first revolutionary treatment was it was the first time we could treat acute migraine and restore people to normal function.
Migraine duration usually depends on what type of migraine you have and how you treat your migraine symptoms. These tips can help cut migraine length — and the length of time you’re in pain.
Migraine length varies. The National Headache Foundation says most migraines last 4 to 72 hours.
Do’s/Don’ts: Don’t get overly tire. Don’t miss meals. Avoid smoking. Avoid consuming certain food and drink like red wine, aged cheese, chocolate, soy sauce, and processed meats
Common Myths: There is a substantial “placebo effect” in the treatment of migraines and tension headaches, a new research analysis shows. Placebo treatments or no treatment appeared to work just as well as drugs in a large percentage of headache patients participating in more than 100 studies.
A surgical technique that has evolved from a cosmetic procedure that smoothes forehead wrinkles may offer lasting relief from frequent or severe migraine headaches, a new study shows.