Introduction:
Migraine is a symptom-complex characterized by recurrent moderate to severe headaches often associated with nausea, vomiting, photophobia (increased sensitivity to light) and phonophobia (increased sensitivity to sound).
Typically the headache is unilateral (affecting one half of the head) and pulsating in nature, lasting from 2 to 72 hours and the pain is generally aggravated by physical activity. The attack of migraine is usually preceded by constriction (narrowing) of the cranial vessels (blood vessels supplying the brain and skull) and the headache commences with dilatation of these blood vessels.
Types of Migraine:
There are two main types of migraine:
1) Migraine with Aura (Classic Migraine): This type of headache is primarily characterized by neurological phenomenon (aura) that is experienced 10 to 30 minutes before the headache begins. Auras may be sensed as visual disturbances, hallucinations or even temporary loss of vision before the headache. They are perceived as perceptual disturbances such as confusing thoughts or experiences and the perception of strange lights, sparkling or flashing lights, lines in the visual field, blind spots, pins and needles in an arm or leg, or unpleasant smells. Auras are experienced due to the constriction of the cranial blood vessels prior to the commencement of the migraine.
2) Migraine without Aura (Common Migraine): This is a common presentation and here the patient does not experience any aura (neurological phenomena) before the headache. Nausea and vomiting frequently accompany this kind of migraine. General fatigue and lethargy may be sensed before the headache begins.
What causes migraines?
Some people who suffer from migraines can clearly identify triggers or factors that cause the headaches, but many cannot. Potential migraine triggers include:
- Emotional stress is one of the most common triggers of a migraine headache. Migraine sufferers generally are highly affected by stressful events. During stressful events, certain chemicals in the brain are released to combat the situation (known as the “flight or fight” response). The release of these chemicals can provoke migraine. Repressed emotions surrounding stress, such as anxiety, worry, excitement and fatigue can increase muscle tension and dilated blood vessels can intensify the severity of migraine.
- Sensitivity to specific chemicals and preservatives in foods. Foods containing tyramine (red wine, aged cheese, smoked fish, chicken livers, figs, and some beans), monosodium glutamate (MSG), or nitrates (like bacon, hot dogs, and salami). Other foods such as chocolate, nuts, peanut butter, avocado, banana, citrus, onions, dairy products, and fermented or pickled foods.
- Caffeine – Excessive caffeine consumption or withdrawal from caffeine can cause headaches when the caffeine level abruptly drops. The blood vessels seem to become sensitized to caffeine, and when caffeine is not ingested, a headache may occur. Caffeine itself is often helpful in treating acute migraine attacks.
- Changing weather conditions such as storm fronts, barometric pressure changes, strong winds or changes in altitude
- Menstrual cycle fluctuations, birth control pills, hormonal fluctuations during the onset of menopause
- Tension Headaches
- Excessive fatigue
- Missing meals or fasting
- Changes in normal sleep pattern
Triggers do not always cause migraines, and avoiding triggers does not always prevent migraines.
Homoeopathic Approach in treating Migraines:
Most migraines are often associated with a psychosomatic cause and Homoeopathy helps in treating such causes and removing them from the root level. There have been many researches made with regards to migraine and homoeopathy and it is a well proven fact that homoeopathy is highly suggested in treating migraine with a definite cure.
Migraine treated in the conventional method is usually with the help of analgesics, anti-inflammatorys, painkillers etc. Homoeopathy helps in targeting the root cause of the problem and thereby treats the migraine from within. The main aim and objective of Homoeopathy has been to treat a person individually and relieve him of his symptoms from within.
The homoeopathic treatment for migraine is based on an extensive case study of the patient with regards to his characteristic symptoms, individualistic behavior during a migraine attack, genetic predisposition, his mental state during an episode of migraine, trigger factors and ameliorating factors.
The total time taken for the treatment differs from person to person depending on the duration, intensity and frequency of the suffering, maintaining causes, susceptibility and general health of the patient.
Most acute episodes are taken care of, very well by homoeopathy. Once the indicated remedy of the patient is arrived at and dispensed to the patient, then the frequency, intensity and duration of headaches decreases drastically and the patient himself can feel the difference.
It is therefore advisable to choose Homoeopathy for curing your Migraine because it treats the illness from within and removes it at its root level with a long term relief and without any side effects.
How Dr. Neha Seth can help you with your Migraine?
Dr. Neha Seth believes in giving the patient immediate relief with a shorter period of treatment and a definite cure. The prime line of treatment is to consider every disease to be a result of an allergy. The patient is first asked to get his Serum IgE levels done. The Serum IgE levels would be high in every patient. To know the allergen that is causing the disease, an allergy test is done. There are two types of allergy tests that are done – a blood test and a skin test. Usually the skin allergy test is asked for; reason being it costs 1/10th the cost of the blood test. With the help of the allergy test, the allergen is identified and treated accordingly. In case of migraines, it could be a food item like chocolates, nuts, dairy products etc. The patient is immediately asked to stop consuming that food item which is the primary allergen. In case the allergen isn’t a food item and it is rather something like dust or pollen etc, then the patient is expected to minimize the exposure as much as possible and keep away from the disease causing allergen. In this way, the patient is not only relieved from migraine but also recurrence is prevented to a great extent. Since the maintaining and the causative factors are now known, homoeopathy works wonderfully once these causes are removed. The patient can therefore see the decrease in frequency and intensity of the migraine attacks. Thus, Dr. Neha Seth can help you with your migraine and definitely cure it giving you a long time relief from the severe pain and agony.
