Are you a migraine sufferer? Are you looking for the way out of your migraine nightmare? Sick of the relentless lost days?
For some people constantly take medications is the only way they can keep migraines under control, but unfortunately they don’t always win. They live in a constant level of mild anxiety knowing that their next full-blown migraine is just around the next corner.
I have heard too many times that patients have been told “it is what it is” or “you just need to manage them”.
And management is all a lot of people can do. In fact, most people spend their time looking for ‘the food’ or ‘the event’ that triggers them off! Eventually their reality is, that no one seems to know what causes them, and they end with a list of triggers that may just be part of the suspect list when a migraine hits.
Ask any migraine sufferer, this trigger list can become quite extensive, and a complete mystery. It includes foods, technology use, outings, menstrual cycles for women, weather changes and certain activities just to name a few. But there is no exact recipe for anyone.
In my opinion, based on years of successfully helping migraine sufferers, triggers are just that – something that tips an aggravated nervous system over to induce a migraine. They are not the underlying cause of nervous system dysfunction. So, the important questions are what part of the nervous system is aggravated and what’s irritating it.
Firstly, the midbrain is key brain area aggravated with migraines. Now what is the mid brain you ask?
The midbrain is one of the most important components of the central nervous system (CNS). It is like a central train station which all trains must pass through. In the body, all neuronal transmissions that pass through the body must at some point pass through the midbrain.
The midbrain helps control your balance, sound processing, vertical eye movements, position in space, and your fight and flight mechanism. Irritation to any of these systems will cause irritation in the midbrain, which in turn creates inflammation.
If you have multiple systems irritated, and it only has to be minor, then this area of the brain gets inflamed and irritated. The aggravated mid brain, on people who are predisposed, can result in modified nerve expression along the trigeminovascular system, which can then present as migraines.
It is the irritation of the midbrain that is the real underlying driver to migraines. If you can reduce the input to this part of the brain and in doing so reduce the irritation and the associated inflammation your migraines can be a thing of the past.
So, are you prepared to take action to get rid of migraines?
If so, then here are my 3 top tips that you can do right now to start reducing your risks:
1. Decrease technology use – stop looking at those bright flashing screens, this includes all time spent mobile phones and laptops. Keep your use under 1 hour a day.
2. Reduce stimulatory food – there are certain types of foods that have a stimulatory effect on the brain. These foods excite the brain and stress pathways and cause wind-up in the midbrain. The most irritating foods to remove are a class called night shade vegetables (potato, tomato, capsicum, chilli, eggplant, goji berries, paprika) these can drive the sympathetic system and potentially may be a problem for many. Other foods to eliminate are alcohol, caffeine and confectionary.
3. Reduce auditory stimulation – too many auditory inputs put the brain under stress as it must filter and categorise the different audio sources. How do I do that you may ask? During a migraine you often have no choice, however, to avoid excessive stimulation at other times follow the following:
a. Don’t have the TV or radio on or music playing when you are talking to someone
b. If you’re watching TV, close doors to the kitchen, laundry or other rooms where there are machines running, music is playing or people are talking
c. Limit your time at noisy locations such as shopping centres
But if the time is right for you, I mean the right time for you to take action and take charge, then give me a call on 9318 7758 or click the message button and let’s have a chat. My team is highly experienced at dealing with migraines and are here to help when you’re ready.