You feel it coming on — that ever so slight pain in your head that tells you a migraine is about to happen. Thankfully, there are medications that can prevent it from progressing. But sometimes it hits like a freight train out of nowhere. BOOM! The worst pain you can ever imagine and then it’s too late… you can’t hold anything down, including your pain relief medication.
In the U.S., more than 37 million people suffer from migraines. And sometimes the only solution for relief from the pain and vomiting is going to the ER. If you have chronic migraines, pay attention to what triggers them, what helps soothe the pain, and ease your nausea. Here are some tips to better manage your migraines in the future.
Six Tips to Manage Your Migraine
1. Retreat into a dark, quiet room so that light and noise don’t aggravate the pain and nausea even further.
2. Get as much shut-eye as you can. Sleep tends to ease the pain and make the time go by faster. You should try to establish a regular sleep schedule. Regular, restful sleep has been reported to improve headaches and migraines.
3. Keep caffeinated drinks handy. Before a migraine, blood vessels tend to enlarge. By drinking caffeine, your blood vessels narrow, restricting blood flow. This has been proven to relieve head pain in some migraine sufferers—but not for all. Test it out to see if it works for you. Sometimes too much caffeine can have the opposite effect and cause withdrawal headaches.
4. Try loosening muscles with a warm compress or numbing the pain with a cold compress. You can also try a warm shower or bath.
5. Keep track of what may be triggering your migraine. Foods that commonly cause migraines include fried foods, chocolates, aged cheese, and alcohol. Avoid other triggers like fumes, stress, and eye strain.
6. Keep your meal schedule consistent. Skipping meals has been reported to trigger migraines.
When in doubt about what is causing your head pain, go to an ER right away. To find out the the benefits of using an emergency room rather than an urgent care clinic, read our blog here.
