6 Things to Do Before and After a Migraine Headache

If you suffer from migraine, particularly high-frequency episodic migraine (HFEM), you are well aware of how incapacitating and life-altering it can be. According to the American Migraine Foundation, migraine is the world's sixth biggest cause of disability. You'll have between eight and fourteen migraine days every month if you have HFEM, so it can feel like the next one is just around the corner, waiting to strike. To stop a migraine before it starts, you'll need a proactive strategy. Here are some expert tips on how to achieve precisely that.

Understand What Migraine Really Is
The term "migraine" is frequently abused to describe someone who is suffering from a severe headache. However, migraine, particularly high-frequency migraine, can cause more than just head pain, prompting nausea , focusing difficulties, light sensitivity, vision impairments, and mood concerns.

Migraine is caused by a mix of genetic susceptibility, psychological factors (such as stress or bad habits), and coexisting illnesses (like anxiety and mood disorder). When you combine the two, you have a great recipe for repeated migraine attacks. So, figuring out what's causing your migraine could help you control it.

Be Mindful of Potential Triggers
First and foremost: your triggers are completely unique to you (for example, pizza may be a trigger for you, while bright light may be a trigger for someone else), but they do not cause your migraine headache . Triggers merely increase your odds of getting one.

Living successfully with migraine is a personal experience that leads to a better understanding of how your biology works on a day-to-day basis. Those who suffer from migraines learn to pay attention to how they think, play, eat, and socialize in order to preserve their nerve systems.

Track Your Triggers With an AppAccording to studies published in the journal Current Pain and Headache Reports, common migraine triggers include stress, weather changes, sleeping troubles, alcohol, menstruation cycles, and food. Do you want to start keeping note of your triggers? BonTriage and Migraine Buddy are two apps that make it simple to do so. You might be able to identify trends if you log each episode as it happens. It's possible that that post-work vinos and that hour-long gram-scrolling session weren't that good for you after all.

Medicate, Hydrate, and Eat WellYou can prevent a migrane by eating well, hydrating with at least 8 glasses of water a day, and medicating with your migraine prescription. You can also treat a Migraine this way.

Make Sleep Hygiene a PriorityThe link between sleep and migraine is clear, according to the journal Headache, as patients frequently report poor sleep before migraine attacks. As a result, sleeping should be a top priority for migraineurs, both in general and while a migraine is on the way. Get to bed on time, establish a consistent sleep regimen, and stick to it. It's simple but crucial. Do you need any sleep hygiene advice? Create a pre-sleep ritual, make your bedroom really cozy, get rid of phones in bed, only get under the sheets when it's time to sleep, get out of bed if you can't sleep.

Mitigate Your Migraine HangoverAround 80% of people suffer from debilitating migraine "hangovers" (also known as postdrome), which occur after the migraine has passed. Isn't it amusing? For up to two days thereafter, you may feel sluggish and out of sorts. This is sometimes just a side effect of the migraine, but it can also be the result of taking too much medicine.

The American Migraine Foundation recommends avoiding additional triggers, staying hydrated, controlling stress , and limiting your use of electronic devices during this time. Moving around can also be beneficial. A regular yoga practice (together with medicine) has been demonstrated to lower migraine frequency and intensity, according to the International Journal of Yoga .