Do You Know Where Migraine Headache Begin?

To seek Migraine Treatment, we have to know where migraine Headache begins before we can get rid of it. We know migraine headache happen in our head. But, do you know exactly where. Somewhere in the brain lies the migraine headache control center, which receives the flow of migraine triggers that activate the migraine attack. Where this center is located, no one knows for sure, but the hypothalamus is the most obvious candidate. This deep-seated tiny organ in the brain controls many basic functions, including your sleep-wake cycle, hunger and satiety, hormonal regulation, and the autonomic (involuntary) nervous system.
Several features of the hypothalamus make it the most likely site of the migraine headache control center. To start with, virtually all migraine activators (or migraine triggers) have input to the hypothalamus. For instance, emotional triggers such as stress (or letdown after stress) and depression involve the brain's limbic system, of which the hypothalamus is a part. In addition, hormonal triggers such as estrogen are regulated by the hypothalamus and have special access to it (In order to be able to monitor hormones, the hypothalamus lacks the normal blood-brain barrier that shields most of the brain from substances circulating in the bloodstream.)
Chemical triggers in foods and beverages can also reach the hypo-thalamus as they circulate in the bloodstream following absorption from the gut. Migraine can be triggered by skipping meals as well, perhaps because of the role of the hypothalamus in overseeing hunger and satiety. Sensory triggers, both visual (sunlight glare, strobe lights) and olfactory (perfumes, cigarette smoke), can also reach the hypothalamus via direct nerve pathways leading from receptors in the eyes and nose. An association between the migraine control center and the hypothalamus is likely for other reasons. Migraine is often linked to the sleep-wake cycle, which is governed by the brain's master clock, located in the hypothalamus. The relationship of migraine to the sleep-wake cycle is evident not only from fluctuations in migraine activity occurring at regular times (for instance, headaches upon awakening) but also from the triggering of migraine as a result of either sleep deprivation or oversleep (as on weekend mornings), as well as relief of migraine following sleep. So understanding where Migraine begins is a milestone in the success of Migraine Treatment.

Types Of Treatment

Migraine Treatment involves two major strategies: lifestyle management and drug therapy. You'll read about lifestyle management -- which inlcudes maintaining regular sleep patterns, eating a healthy diet, getting enough exercise, avoiding stress and making modifications to some of your behaviors. Drug therapy is the starting point in a migraine treatment plan. When using drug therapy, it's important to know what a medication is intended to do and what improvements you may expect from taking it. If you expect it to give you certain benefit that it sometimes never will (after you take the medication without any prior research work), you're bound for disappointment. But there are plenty of medication choices available that, when combined with lifestyle management, can keep migraine under control and prevent attacks from interfering too much with your daily life. Doctors generally classify headache treatment in two ways: acute and preventive.

Migraine Treatment - Acute Pain Relief

Acute migraine treatment tries to alleviate migraine symptom as early in the attack as possible. The treatment is aimed at relieving not only head pain but also symptom such as nausea and vomiting. Several classes of drugs are used for acute treatment, ranging from general pain relievers to medications specific to migraine. The choice of medication will depend on how severe and frequent your headaches are, what your associated signs and symptom are, whether you have any other medical conditions, and what has or hasn't worked for you in the past. Your doctor can help you make the best choice.

Migraine Treatment - Medication (Analgesics)
Analgesics, or pain relievers, are often the first line of treatment for headache. Because most analgesics are available over the counter and are easy to buy, they're some of the most widely used headache medications. For people with mild to moderate migraine pain, these drugs may provide sufficient relife.

Analgesics should be taken as early in the attack as possible to be most effective. You may have discovered that taking an analgesic along with caffeine can be helpful, such as taking aspirin with a cup of coffee. A few drugs contain caffeine already (Excedrin).

If analgesics is not working well in relieving your migraine headache, then go and see a doctor and ask for other options. More than half the people who suffer from disabling headaches resort to over-the-counter drugs even though they might benefit more from prescription drugs. One reason some people avoid seeing a doctor for migraine headache is because they're are afraid to admit to themself that the condition is serious. But if headaches are affecting your daily life in a very serious way, it's important to take the best possible care of this condition by taking prescription drugs prescribed by doctor.

Migraine Treatment - Medications

In the past, aspirin was often the recommended choice of headache medication. Today aspirin remains a treatment option, but other headache drugs have been developed, some of them specifically designed for migraine. In addition, drugs that generally are used to treat other conditions, such as high blood pressure or depression, have been found useful in treating headaches. In short, a much wider selection of migraine medications is available today.
It's important to understand the role of medications in your treatment program and their relationship to other strategies you may be using. They must be taken at prescribed times and at appropriate strengths and dosages to get the best resulst.
In addition, it's essential to work with your doctor to get an accurate diagnosis of your headache so that your treatment can be targeted at the correct problem. Remember that the goals of treatment are effective short-term relief and long-term management of your headache.

Official Google Blog: How do you know you're getting the best care possible?

Official Google Blog: [Migraine Symptom] - How do you know you're having migraine and not just the normal headache that just last for minutes?

Like most people, you must have experienced at least a mild headache occasionally. And, like most people, you probably don't run to your doctor with complains of minor headache that disappears within a short time. In most cases, mild headache can be easily eased with over-the-counter pain-killers or a few moments of relaxation.
However, unfortunately for millions of Americans, headaches became a medical problem. Over-the-counter medications don't seem to work very well or sometimes not at all. Still many people are not willing to admit that their headaches are causing them serious problem even when headache pain is severe or disabling. After all, the old belief that headaches are purely psychological is a difficult one to put to rest.

There are some warning signs. The term headache, as discussed previously, describes almost any pain that occurs in the head. There are many types of headaches because there are so many possible causes of head pain.
There are two common reasons why people feel they should seek medical care for headache. Either they fear the headache is caused by a serious underlying condition, or the headache prevents them from functioning normally and participating in work, family and social activities. For either reason, seeing the doctor is the correct course of action.

Fortunately, most headaches, although painful and sometimes disabling, aren't life-threatening and are treatable. A doctor's diagnosis is an essential first step for treatment to begin.

There are certain developments that indicate potential problems if you have recurrent headaches. Consider contacting your doctor if you notice any of the following patterns forming:

1) You usually have three or more headaches per week.
2) You must take a pain reliever every day or almost daily for your headaches.
3) You feel that you need more than the recommended doses of over-the-counter medications to relieve pain.
Some headaches symptoms may signal the need for more prompt medical attention. You should plan to see your doctor if you experience any of the following:

1) Your headaches keep getting worse and won't go away.
2) The severity, duration and frequency of your headaches have increased noticeably.
3) You develop persistent headaches after being relatively headache-free in the past.
4) Your headaches are triggered by coughing, bending, physical exertion or sexual activity.
5) Your headaches started following trauma to your head.
6) Your headaches began after age 50.

Some types of headache may warn of more sinister disorders and call for prompt medical care. Rare but serious causes of headache include brain tumor, stroke, aneurysm, temporal arteritis, meningitis and encephalitis.

The greatest collection of
Map Photos can be found here.

Migraine Treatment - Medication Therapy

Migraine Treatment can help reduce the frequency of your migraine headache attacks, make the attacks less severe, prevent some attacks from happening and improve your ability to cope when attackes do occur. For the most effective outcome, the treatment should be a team effort between you and your doctor. And this team effort should begin with a proper diagnosis and an accurate history of your headache.
The headache history collects information about the symptom you're experiencing and about the way pain is affecting your life. The information may be gathered during the initial doctor visit in a written questionnaire or directly during a one-on-one interview. The history helps the doctor make a diagnosis and serves as a base line for later assessments of your condition.
The docor will base much of your treatment on how frequent or severe your signs and symptom are and which are the most bothersome. It's also important for your doctor to know the diagnosis whether another medical condition is causing your headache. Taking migraine medication when your headache is caused by something else, such as infection, can be dangerous. Pain relief may disguise the true reason for the pain and prevent proper treatment for a serious, perhaps even life-threatening, problem.
When it comes to migraine treatment, one size does not fit all. There are many effective options - it's just that certain options work well for some migraineurs and not for others. Sometimes, you and your doctor many have to try more than one type of medication or lifestyle change before deciding on the right treatment or the right combination of migraine treatments.