If you suffer from migraine headaches, you know how debilitating they can be. When migraines strike, we feel powerless. Days of missed work, nausea, aversion to light and sound. All you can do is curl up in the dark and wait it out. But, there are ways to manage migraines before they begin.
Migraine triggers vary from person to person, and from headache to headache. Triggers may be dietary, lifestyle factors, or even weather patterns. Keeping a journal of your headaches is often helpful in determining your triggers. Common triggers include foods containing tyramine found in fermented foods, smoked and cured meats, cheeses and especially red wine. Also major culprits are highly processed foods containing MSG, Aspartame, nitrates and nitirites, and caffeine.
Often, it’s not just one trigger that causes a migraine, but the combined effects of a few. This concept is known as the migraine threshold. While red wine on its own may not cause your migraines, this dietary trigger plus increased stress at work, plus poor weather may push you over your threshold into a migraine.
When a migraine strikes, little can be done to stop it. This is why preventative care is so important for migraine sufferers. There is a growing body of evidence that supports Chiropractic care and Acupuncture in the prevention of migraine headaches. Studies show that patients undergoing regular Chiropractic care report fewer episodes of migraines, decreased pain intensity and less use of emergency pain medication. Chiropractic care has fewer side effects than prescription prophylactic medications. The best news is, these results can be maintained with relatively infrequent visits to the Chiropractor.
Talk to your chiropractor for more information on the treatment of migraine headaches. Together, we can manage your migraine symptoms.
