Home Remedies For Migraine

Natural Migraine Relief With Home Remedies

When it comes to migraine, three out of four of the about 30 million Americans who suffer from migraine are women. Migraine is an extremely painful and debilitating type of headache. In this article we will tell you all about migraine, including what is a migraine? ; What causes migraines? And How to treat a migraine?

What is a Migraine?

Migraine is a recurrent, severe throbbing headache that typically affects one side of the head only. Usually it’s preceded or accompanied by warning sign, like nausea and vertigo (dizziness), flashes of light, blind spots, tickling in the arms and legs, enhanced sensitivity to light and sound. It lasts for hours and even days.

What Causes Migraines?

So for there is no clear cut theory which tells us why one get migraines. Some researchers have linked migraine to changes in blood vessels in the head. First they constrict, and as the pain begins they dilate. But it’s not known yet why these changes happen. But the people who suffer from migraines have found following triggers points as causes of migraines:

(i) Allergic reactions and allergies;

(ii) Going out in sunlight, bright lights, loud sounds, and certain smells and perfumes;

(iii) Dry and / or cold winds;

(iv) Changes in seasons and altitudes;

(v) Stress – physical or/and emotional;

(vi) Tension, excitement or anger;

(vii) Irregular sleep and changes in sleep pattern;

(viii) Alcohol, excessive caffeine, smoking or even exposure to smoke;

(ix) Fasting or skipping meals;

(x) Hormone fluctuations, menstrual fluctuations and taking birth control pills.

But it’s not necessary that the above triggers always cause migraines in all cases, and also avoiding triggers does not always prevent migraines.

How to Treat a Migraine Naturally ?

The foremost home remedy is to identify, out of the above migraine causes, what causes migraines in your case. Avoid that cause(s) to happen. Continue reading here for other natural remedies for migraines that you can follow easily at home which will ease or fully cure your migraine attacks:

1. Get regular sleeps: Irregular sleeps, changes in sleep patterns and lack of rest have been found as the potential causes for migraines. Get adequate sleep and try to sleep and wake up in the morning at the same hours. In other words avoid changing your sleep-pattern, as this affects the quality of sleep cycles and can be responsible for triggering migraines.

2. Keep the rest / bedroom dark while taking rest or sleeping: Try to take rest or sleep in a dark room away from noises, as bright light and loud sounds have been found to cause migraines.

3. Avoid sleeping late: Sleeping late into the morning on weekends can disturb your sleep-patterns. If you like to sleep late on weekends, try sleeping with little bit of your bedroom window open to let the fresh air in.

4. Note what you eat: Certain foods and drinks cause migraines in about 10 percent of the cases. It can take from twenty minutes to twelve hours for a particular drink or food to trigger migraine reaction. When you suffer migraine, try to think back what you ate in that time frame and in this way you can identify the foods that trigger migraines in your case. Experiment by eliminating such foods and drinks from your diet. Some examples are chilled drinks, ice creams, alcohol, etc.

5. Don’t skip meals: Eat at regular intervals. Skipping meals can be responsible for onset of migraines in case of some individuals. Try to eat your meals at the regular intervals.

6. Tying a headband around the head: Tie a scarf, bandanna or a necktie around your head and tighten it just enough to feel some pressure on the affected area. In this way the blood flow to your scalp is reduced providing natural migraine relief.

7. Ice Pack / Cold Compress: Lie down and place an ice pack or cold compress on your head. Try to do it in a dark room. Keep your eyes closed while doing it.

8. Take bath with lights off: This is another home remedy for migraine you can try. Just relax your body while taking bath.

9. Take Riboflavin (Vitamin B2): For getting vitamin B2 naturally, include in your diet a bowl of whole-grain cereal with less fat or fat-free milk, mushrooms, broccoli and spinach. For those who like to have supplements, a riboflavin dose of 400 mg a day can work for preventing migraine headache. However, it sometimes causes one to urinate more or release darker urine, and if it happens so then the dose is needed to be adjusted.

10. Magnesium: Magnesium is known for its properties to treat many types of migraines, especially the menstrual associated migraines and migraines associated with auras. The foods that are rich in magnesium include spinach, sweet potatoes, white potatoes, quinoa, sunflower seeds, brown rice and whole grains. You can also consider trying magnesium supplements in doses of 400 mg a day.

11. Ginger powder and onion: Mix one teaspoon of onion juice with ginger powder enough to make a paste. Apply it over the side on which you are having migraine currently. This is an ancient time natural remedy for migraine pains.

12. Head Massage with certain essential oils: Ask somebody to gently massage a little bit of lavender oil onto your temples and head. Lie down in a room that is dark, cool and quite.

Alternatively you can rub peppermint oil on that part of head which is suffering from migraine pain.

While applying one or more than one of the above home remedies for migraines, we suggest you keep a migraine diary to monitor what works and what does not and also what triggers migraine in your case. This diary you can refer to at the time of need or telling your doctor about your symptoms.

If your migraine pains persist even after following above migraine treatments, you consult your doctor who may prescribe a migraine medication or suggest for some other form of migraine treatments.

Do you suffer from migraine. If yes, please share with our readers what do you do when you have migraine attack?