Migraine: Types and Treatments

Migraine

Of some of the most common health problems, Headache is the one which everyone experiences in his life and the reasons for that headache differs from people to people.

Migraine as we know is a form of headache but it must be called as the most severe form of headache that is also called the vascular headache that is caused by vasodilatation (enlargement of blood vessels). The enlargement of the blood vessels causes stretchiness in the nerves that coil around them and then the nerves releases chemicals that become cause of inflammation and pain. So what is the main cause that has lead our nerves into such situation and not only our nerves but our whole personality as the pain and sufferings of the migraine attacks are sometimes really unbearable.

The causes of the Migraine attacks are different for different people but there are also some similar ones as well like some people gets these attacks when gets the exposure to too much hot or cold climate, some people instantly gets the migraine attacks when they don’t take a complete sleep and some others causes. No matter what is the main trigger of migraine attack, this is a fact that everyone who suffers from migraine has some environmental triggers like heat, lack of sleep or food, stress and some others.

Nowadays we have to work consistently under stressful conditions because in every field of life there is a race going on and to be a winner we have to take lots of burden on our nervous system. This stress on our mind prevents the blood and oxygen flow into the brain and as a result majority of people gets the migraine like pains, this is also the reason for a rapidly increasing ratio of migraine patients in the world.

Types of Migraine:

As i have stated above, the severity of these attacks are different in different people and this takes us to the different types of migraine that have been found in the world. Basically the migraine is classified into two types that are also called its classic types and these are: migraine with aura (formerly referred to as classic migraine) and migraine without aura (formerly referred to as common migraine).

1.    Migraine with Aura:

This is one of the most common forms of migraine that is associated with some kind of aura, which is actually the manifestation of neurological symptoms. In this type of migraine attack, people experiences dots or flashing lights, blind spots in one or both eyes, hearing problems, taste problems or other vision problems and these are all called the aura. The aura usually starts at least 5- 30 minutes before the actual headache and this could be called an alarm that the migraine attack is going to get started very soon. Up till now I have shown you some simple neurological feelings but sometimes people faces quite harder feelings as well like a ‘pins and needles’ sensation and even sometimes problems in speaking, these feelings lasts in a person until the headache starts and once the headache starts then the feelings automatically gets vanished.

2.    Migraine without Aura

This is a type of instant migraine that don’t follows any kind of alarms or auras and this is the migraine that is associated with the vascular problems in the brain. As I have said that it is the migraine associated with vascular problems then so the phenomenon revolves around the change of size of the blood vessels revolving around your skull.

According to the medical experts, in this type the patient’s blood vessels constricts in the pre-headache phase and then the vessel’s dilation occurs which actually starts the migraine attack. The ratio of occurrence of this attack also varies from person to person, for some people it occurs once in a week and for others it occurs once in a month or two.  The headache may occur at day or night and they tend to be so acute that they can even wake someone up while sleeping.

So these were the two basic forms of migraine but the story of migraine attacks doesn’t ends here, there are lots of others to discuss which are classified as the sub forms of these two attacks and they are actually the more exact classifications of migraine attacks to let’s have a look.

Basilar Migraine

This is a sub form of migraine with aura and it is also classified as the most rare form of migraine, the aura symptoms in this kind of migraine includes dizziness, loss of balance, confusion, slurred speech, hearing loss, hearing changes and some others. These attacks are so severe that during the attack the people gets unconscious and some even pass out during this attack. These patients are usually confused with those people who are addicted to drugs or suffering from some other conditions but it’s actually the basilar migraine that gives rise to all these symptoms.

Hemiplegic Migraine

This is another very rare yet severe type of migraine and in this type the patient may develop some temporary motor paralysis or some other sensory disturbance on one side of the body and it is immediately followed by a headache. This migraine is usually accompanied with many pins and needles sensations that are really hard to bear for a human. This is mostly seen to be a genetic migraine which travels in families and it is occurred due to some chromosome’s defect and it also involves abnormal calcium channels. It is a really dangerous type of migraine and physician should be immediately consulted if you are having this problem because the normal medicine is not going to help you out.

Nocturnal Migraine

This is the type of migraine in which the headache starts in the middle of night or in the early morning hours and this mostly awakens the patient from sleep. Some recent researches have shown that these attacks are due to some changes in the neurotransmitters in the brain during sleep. These are not as severe as the above mentioned types but still the patients are suggested to visit the doctor when face such attacks.

Ocular Migraine

This is the type of migraine in which the problem starts arising in the blood vessels of eyes rather than that of the skull; during the ocular migraine the blood vessels in the eyes causes’ pain and the patient become aware of the lights in the peripheral vision. The disturbance of light intensifies until it is centered in the eyes. This type of migraine usually stays for 15 to 20 minutes and after that people sometimes reports minor headache or fatigue.

So these were some other types of migraine which according to me should be discussed here in this chapter, I can’t still say that the migraine and its types have ended here there are plethora of others left but the worth mentioned one have been stated here. Let’s see how we can treat these migraines so that we can live a life without such pains and sufferings.

Treatment of Migraine

The treatment of all the different types of migraine tends to be different but some common routines can also prove to be quite affective. First of all if you have got migraine attacks then it’s your duty to consult dome health expert and he’ll surely discuss some health plans that will make you stay away from migraines. Here I am going to give some tips to those people that will help them in the prevention of migraine attacks.

• First of all make a habit to do regular exercise; the daily workout of the body will amazingly work in reducing the amount of occurrence of migraine.

• Lack of food is also a trigger to migraine so try to take proper diet in your daily routine and never miss breakfast, lunch or dinner.

• Don’t stand or sit in a same posture for long period of time because it also affects the blood flow and the blood flow disturbance can lead to migraine attacks.

• Avoid too much stress as it is the most common trigger to migraine.

These were some tips for the prevention of migraine but for the complete treatment you must consult a doctor otherwise the condition may become more severe.