There are three goals that migraine specialists have as they research and treat this illness that so many Americans suffer from. First, researchers need to learn the causes and triggers. This leads automatically into the next step, which is treatment. If the things that cause migraine are understood, then proper treatments can be devised. But understanding the underlying causes also helps with the third goal, which is migraine prevention.

One of the biggest advances in the research has been with regard to migraine triggers. A great many of these have been discovered, falling into two categories: controllable and uncontrollable. Uncontrollable triggers might be things like changing weather patterns. For example, big swings in barometric pressure, a high humidity, and certain types of wind can all trigger a migraine. One might think migraine prevention would be impossible when it comes to these factors, but they might at least be mitigated to some extent.

Another type of migraine that some feel falls into the “uncontrollable” category would be the menstrual migraine. After all, a woman can’t very well just stop menstruating to prevent a headache. Yet the trigger here seems, at least in part, to be either too much or too little estrogen. Menstruating women can’t entirely control their estrogen levels, yet they might be able to alter the dosage to some degree in their birth control pills. And post-menopausal women can certainly adjust dosages in their hormone replacement therapies. So migraine prevention might even be possible in these cases.

Certain other factors are most definitely controllable, and may bring a degree of migraine relief. For example, some people’s headaches are triggered by glaring light, so they can help themselves with proper sunglasses or by closing a curtain. Other triggers, the majority of controllable ones, in fact, seem to be food-related. So the person’s migraine prevention program may be to stop eating peanut butter, cheese, chocolate, or any other food that seems to bring on the headache. Triggers involving food, strong smells, or even light conditions can often be altered or eliminated.

The Mayo Clinic advises that a healthy lifestyle with regular exercise and sleep patterns, lower stress levels, and regular meals can also work toward migraine prevention. But detecting one’s triggers and removing the controllable ones can be the biggest step one can take with regard to migraine management, and might actually prevent the onset of one of these headaches even if there’s an uncontrollable trigger coming, like a big change in the weather.

Beth Kaminski is the co-author of Curing Your Anxiety And Panic Attacks which detailed treating panic disorder as well as tips on the various anxiety attack medications available at anxietydisordercure.com.

Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!