What are Migraine Headaches?

Imagine being in so much pain that you feel like your head could explode. Now imagine having this pain for hours and even days, accompanied by nausea, dizziness, fainting, and maybe even seizures. To some this is unimaginable but to others this is just life with Migraine Headaches. If you are feeling these affects you may be asking yourself what exactly is a Migraine Headache? Most of all you are probably wondering how you can get rid of them.

Migraine headaches are most commonly thought of as bad headaches, but they are much more than this. A migraine headache is actually a neurological condition that includes many different symptoms, headaches being just one of these. Other symptoms include; nausea, dizziness, fainting, seizures, photophobia, hyperacusis, and many more. For instance photophobia and hyperacusis are symptoms that will make functioning with a migraine headache difficult because they involve problems affecting a persons senses.

There are five different phases of a migraine headache which are prodrome, aura, headache, termination, and postdrome. Some people will experience all of these phases, making it very difficult to live their lives. Others will only experience a few of these phases and many times this will not interfere too greatly in their life. The number and kind of phase a person goes though will greatly effect the severity and treatment of their migraine headache and identifying the phase they are going through is very important. This can even mean the difference between having the ability to function normally in life and having debilitating migraine headaches.

The severity of migraine headaches can be vastly different depending on the person. It can range from just an irritation to extremely dangerous. In some cases this can even become life threatening. This is why preventing and caring for migraine headaches is so important. Migraine headaches can last anywhere from a few short hours and as long as three days.

The symptoms and length of the migraines will vary by person and can affect people of all ages. A especially alarming migraine headache fact is that migraine headaches can occur from infancy. In infants the identifiable symptoms are typically vomiting and head tilting. This condition does not discriminate, at each stage in life there may be different symptoms, triggers, and signs of migraine headaches.

There are many different types of treatment such as medication and alternative medicine to choose from. The treatment will also vary by person due to personal preferences, cause of the migraine headache, and severity. Even the medication given to treat a migraine headache will be different because there are so many on the market that can aide in the treatment of migraine headaches. Alternative medicine also offers a wide variety of solutions to treat a migraine headache.

A doctor will be able to diagnose the migraine headaches and rule out other possible conditions with several different tests available. This is a problem that affects not only the person suffering from migraine headaches, but also their entire family. Luckily, for these people there is hope and support from groups and doctors. With the proper prevention techniques and treatments managing migraine headaches can make life more enjoyable.

Migraine Headache Statistics

There are many different migraine headache statistics and these are important in understanding just how many people are affected by migraine headaches. Statistics say that 98% of people have gotten at least some kind of headache in there lifetime. It has been reported that around 47 million people encounter some form of major and recurring headache in America. Out of these about 20 million people are experiencing migraine headaches, which is a very significant amount.

In the entire world about 1 billion people have had a migraine headache in their lifetime. Around 97% of these people will get a migraine headache before turning 50. Approximately 50% of people who do get migraine headaches will experience them before they are 21 years old. About 15% of people who experience migraines will feel them before they are 15 and 5% will get them before they are five years old. This is alarming because that means that 200 million people who get migraine headaches will get them before they are even five years old.

These statistics are very important because they can help us learn more about migraine headaches. They can also allow scientists to understand the problem which will hopefully someday lead to the discovery of new treatments and maybe even a cure to this problem that has caused 90% of people who suffer from severe migraine headaches to lose at least one job. Also, if you are suffering from migraine headaches you now know that you are not alone, there are many people suffering just like you.

On the next page we will discuss Factors That Contribute To Migraines.