Causes of Migraine

A migraine is a severe ache in the head that may disturb our daily life. Many people suffer from migraines, but ignore it due to their busy schedules. Read on to know the causes of migraines.

Over 20 million residents in the USA alone, suffer from migraine. It has affected the female population more than the male population. It can be detrimental to our daily lives. Even though medical technology is so advanced, migraine have still not been studied, diagnosed, or treated in a satisfactory manner. Moreover, people pay no heed to headaches which could easily be a migraine. They ignore the pain, assuming that it is just a temporary headache that take care of itself in no time.

What is a Migraine?

A migraine is a throbbing and severe headache that is often starts on one side of the head, and can be distantly related to vascular headaches. The ache rises in a particular side of the head. It may spread and increase to other parts of the head as well. A person suffering from migraine can also experience nausea, vomiting, and a strong sensitivity to light or sound. There are chances of his hands and feet turning cold or sweaty. It is an ache that rises gradually, reaches an intense level, and settles down eventually. It is caused when 'vasodilatation', that is the expansion of blood vessels, and the chemicals released from nerve fibers, which curl around them, combine. The temporal artery expands itself during the migraine attack, which is located outside the skull and under the skin of the forehead. The expansion of the temporal artery stresses and stretches the nerves around it, which forces them to release certain chemicals. These chemicals are a reason for the pain and inflammation, and may also cause the artery to expand further, which again amplifies the pain.

Causes of Migraine

There are many factors that can cause migraine headaches. A 'migraine trigger' is a reason that stimulates a headache in a person who is likely to be prone to it. Most of the affected people, are unable to identify the reasons for a migraine. There are many triggers that may lead to migraine such as excessive stress, cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, insufficient sleep, skipping meals, flickering or bright lights, eating chocolates, or caffeine consumption. There can be a time gap between the exposure to a trigger and the actual migraine attack, which may vary from a few hours to two days.

Skipping breakfast or lunch: If you are fasting, or dieting by skipping breakfast, lunch, or dinner, you are likely to experience migraine. Fasting causes a release of stress-related hormones and lowers the sugar in the blood. People who have experienced migraine headaches earlier, should avoid fasting or skipping breakfast and lunch.

Exposure of Eyes to Bright Light: Migraine are also caused if one exposes his eyes to a very bright light or some other high-intensity visual stimuli. A bright light not only affects migraine patients but also affects normal people. Direct exposure to sunlight, vehicle headlights, or watching television for long can also precipitate migraine headaches.

Caffeine Consumption: Caffeine is present in many products that we consume daily like coffee, chocolates, tea, or cola, and OTC analgesics. Caffeine can be good for health if consumed in a low quantity, but if consumed in excess, it may lead to insomnia, headaches, anxiety, and irritability.

Sleep: Migraine headaches are caused if one is deprived of sleep or is sleeping more than necessary. Poor quality of sleep which includes waking up at short intervals throughout the night also can be a cause. Well-planned sleeping routines have been proven to decrease the frequency of headaches. Quality sleep can help reduce the duration of migraine.

Hormones in Women: In the case of women, hormonal changes may also induce migraine. They may experience 'menstrual migraine' which are headaches that occur before, during, or immediately after their periods.

As there is no cure for migraine, it is highly advised by doctors to keep away from all migraine triggers to prevent them.