Killer Headaches

It is estimated that nearly all the population has been the victims of migraine attacks at one time or another. Millions of work days are lost every year and bucket loads of cash for relief medicine is spent every year. Symptoms of migraines are nausea, flashing lights, sensitivity to light and sounds, and tingling and numbness in the lips, hands or feet. The combination can be totally debilitating and can start in the blink of an eye.

When migraines begin to affect the way you live your life, and work and everyday errands become too difficult to finish while having a migraine, then maybe it is time to discuss the problem with your physician.

Migraines are considered to be a possible sign of more perilous conditions and diseases, such as M.S. and certain other nervous system disorders, and forms of cancer. In other words, maybe it isn’t only a migraine you suffer from.
Physicians rely on factors such as the frequency, pain level and severity of accompanying symptoms to adequately determine the relevance of the migraine attacks. Low severity or minimal occurrences weaken the importance of the migraine. In these cases, the over the counter medicine works well enough to comfort the average person. If they do not, there is still the option of seeking medical attention.

However, if the attack is severe and occurs often, the physician will usually ask a hundred questions. Some of your answers could indicate the possibility of undiagnosed ailments, or more importantly, could deny the possibility. Since these answers are so important, keeping a journal of the attacks and its details can prove more helpful than recalled events. Especially since memory is a tricky thing when going through a severe attack.

CAT and MRI scans are very typical tests that are both low invasive, painless processes that grants the experts insight to the dilemma of the patient. Modern medicine has literally brought the human body into a new age of medical discovery and repair. If the tests are determined normal, your physician can treat the migraine attacks with prescribed medicine and possibly even uncover ways to prevent the attacks. Some migraine attacks are brought on from allergens, menstruating, and stress. By narrowing the field down and identifying the cause, the journey of migraine control is half over and on its way to being finished. Lifestyle changes, such as diet restrictions and sleep routines, can be a very effective control method. Lifestyle changes are sometimes hard to accommodate, but the results can prove to be more than worth the trouble. Gaining control of your health is taking control of your life. To someone losing a few days every month to the headaches, it can equal adding a year or more to their life.

Unfortunately, there are cases every year where a patient does not inform their doctor of severe migraine circumstances until a fatal condition exists. The persuasiveness of family and friends for the migraine sufferer to acknowledge there is a medical problem and to report it to the doctor might be the ultimate life saving attempt.