Migraine is a condition in which severe headache occurs, usually at one side of the head. The impact of migraine can be on your work, sleep and your ability to complete your everyday tasks. Before heading to a doctor, try out these simple measures which can effectively mitigate the pain to a greater extent.
Natural home tips:
- Put an ice pack, frozen gel pack, or a cloth instead in cold water on your forehead, scalp, or neck to get relief from the migraine pain.
- Caffeine, present in coffee and some other drinks, may give you some mild relief from the migraine pain. Make sure not to increase the intake as a lot of dependency over caffeine is not advisable for people with migraine.
- When migraine hits you, speed up your recovery by picking up a dark spot that’s away from bright light and loud noises as they make your headache worse.
- Mix dry ginger powder with 2 tablespoons of milk and apply it on the forehead for 10-15 mins. This is known to relieve the acute headaches.
- Consume half a glass of spinach juice mixed with half a glass of carrot juice.
- Try having a quarter cup of cucumber juice mixed with a quarter cup of beetroot juice and a half cup of carrot juice.
- Peppermint oil : Inhaling the steam with 3-5 drops of peppermint oil, Adding a few drops while bathing, Massaging the oil to the neck and forehead are some of the natural ways to treat migraine.
Remedies:
- Not sleeping enough or sleeping more than required also tends to trigger headaches and lower your threshold for pain. Try to hit the bed and wake up at the same time every day.
- Vitamin B2 intake: Also called riboflavin. Increase your intake of Vitamin B2 which is found in milk, spinach, broccoli, cabbage, red meat, mushrooms, salmon. Studies show it can help prevent migraines.Â
- Manage your triggers: The food you eat or the conditions around you may set off your migraine. Observe what affects you and stay away from it.
- Maximize Magnesium: You can find magnesium in dark-green vegetables, nuts and whole grains. A regular intake can minimize the migraine attacks.
- Yoga : Whenever you feel normal, a regular workout/yoga session of at least 20-30 mins for thrice a week helps in reducing the number of attacks you get and makes them less severe when they do happen.
Reasons for migraine attack:
Knowing the root cause helps you prevent the triggers in the first place. Migraine can be a hereditary disorder. Those having migraine are sensitive to change. Change in the weather, barometric pressure changes, sleeping patterns are some of the common causes. More women suffer from the migraine attacks than men as they have fluctuating hormones throughout the month. So there are a lot of things that you cannot control, but there’s triggers that you can control by choosing healthy food habits. So there are definitely triggers that occur due to the food we eat and we don’t even realize it.
Foods that control the triggers:
Here are some foods listed which prevent and promote migraine. It’s also important to know which foods promote migraine, so that one can avoid them and plan their diet accordingly.
| Provokes | Prevents |
| Egg Plant | Kale(Rich in Magnesium) |
| Tomatoes | Ginger |
| Potatoes | Green Vegetables |
| Peanuts(Histamines) | Carrots |
| Avocado | Sweet potatoes |
| Alcohol/ Wine | Cranberries |
| Cheese | Cherries |
The Mnemonic SEEDS:
Sleep, Exercise, Eating, Drinking plenty of fluids and Stress management is proven to be an effective way to treat migraine. Though consulting a doctor is essential and unavoidable, it is also important to be cautious in every action that you do to slow down the attacks.
