Natural Migraine Relief
Natural migraine relief is a goal for many sufferers. This is due in part to the potential side effects and the high cost of prescription drugs. While some natural migraine treatments may also have side effects, they are generally less common and less serious than with traditional medicines. There are also things we can do to help ourselves, with no cost or risk involved.
We are all different. As with prescription drugs, one person may achieve greater benefits than another from a natural medication. What works well for you may be less effective for someone else and vice verse. Word of mouth is good, but don’t assume that you will get the same results that someone else did. And if something didn’t work for them don’t dismiss it out of hand.
There are many alternatives to taking medication in the treatment of migraine headaches. One of, or maybe a combination of these alternative methods will turn out to be your ideal solution. A word of caution. If you choose to go down this route, you are likely to meet opposition from the medical profession. They will say that some of these treatments have not undergone rigorous scientific analysis. And there may be some truth in that.
But if real people are finding them effective… Also, clinical trials evaluate the performance of a new drug against a placebo. They are only required to outperform the placebo by a tiny fraction to be considered effective. Rigorous testing doesn’t necessarily equate to amazing results.
Another caution. The presence of a treatment here does not represent an endorsement of it. I merely present the possibilities. Also, some herbal remedies are not compatible with prescription medicines. I would get the advice of a doctor before mixing treatments or discontinuing prescribed medicines.
That being said, here we go:
Chiropractic adjustments or manipulations, have been a very popular natural headache relief method for many years. Patients with migraine headaches are said to have achieved very good results. Over 80% of headache patients show improvement from chiropractic care. Also, chiropractic treatment has proven very safe. Correcting spinal problems may help to relieve headaches that are caused by them.
Exercise can be a trigger for migraine attacks in some people, but it also enhances life and health. This is a case where what is good for us generally is also helpful in dealing with migraine. It is just a question of finding the right exercise. For me, swimming in a chlorinated pool has been a trigger for attacks, but I was always able to run. The impact from running could be a problem for many migraineurs.
The thing is, not to give up at the first attempt. Try out different things and record your reactions to them. Most people will find some form of exercise they can do. Being fitter, stronger and with a more positive outlook on life has to help. My main current activity is Tai Chi. It is a low impact, surprisingly good exercise that also helps to relieve stress. You might also consider things such as Yoga and Pilates.
Stress is thought to be a major trigger for migraine and we are all exposed to an increasing number of stress factors. Stress itself is not a thing, it is just our reaction to what goes on around us. We all have a threshold for what we can handle being thrown at us. If we are exposed to much more than we can take or are above our threshold for long periods, we start to exhibit typical stress responses, including migraine attacks.
Ways that we can increase our threshold include, relaxation techniques such as meditation. Technology now provides ways to do this easily, without retreating to a mountain top. It doesn’t have to be too time consuming either. There are also many self help courses available, aimed at helping us to release old thought and feelings that are holding us back from living naturally and freely. I have taken some very good ones.
I have come to believe that our attitude to migraine, as well as to life in general, is everything. They say that what you resist persists, so I think that talking about a war or a battle against migraine is not the way to go. Is being in a war going to help you to relax? It is much better to accept or even embrace it. Look at it with interest. I know this sounds like a mad idea if you are in the middle of a severe migraine, but has fighting it ever helped.
I resisted the temptation to use the phrase ‘migraine attack’ there. It just occurred to me that it sounds like something from outside is attacking you and causing you pain. That is not going to put you into a resourceful state to deal with it. It sounds like something that is out of your control, which it is not. There are many things you can do to improve the situation.
Diet is one area that can really make things better or worse. Here again, what would be a good healthy diet for anyone is beneficial for migraineurs. We should all eat a variety of foods, including protein, fresh fruit and vegetables, whole grains and pulses. Most of us could reduce the amount of fat, salt and processed foods we eat.
Just having a healthy, balanced diet could help to alleviate our symptoms. This is before we look at food elimination diets. There are the usual suspects when it comes to foods that may trigger migraine. Some of these are, strong cheese, wine, caffeine, chocolate and some food additives. But we are all different. You might be fine with all of these, but there is something else that sets you off.
The only way to know for sure is by keeping a food diary. This takes work, but it could pay off in the end. It involves recording what you eat, at what time of day, and what symptoms you experience and when. Over time, you may start to see patterns emerging, of eating a particular food and having a headache later. Then you try eliminating foods from your diet, one at a time, and see if there is any improvement.
Some people have had great results just from doing this. These are just a few natural migraine relief methods you can try, that could greatly improve your quality of life. And I didn’t even get to herbal remedy alternatives to drugs. That will have to be another article. As always, though there is much of this that you can do for yourself, it might be worth a discussion with your doctor.
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