Headache is a symptom that everyone experiences at least once in their lifetime. Stress due to excessive work or schoolwork may be the cause, or it may be caused by other diseases such as a cold or anemia. Or, there are cases of people complaining that their head hurts because of a hangover caused by excessive drinking.
Among these, migraine is a symptom that occurs when the brain becomes sensitive to external stimuli and the blood vessels in the head expand. You may also feel nauseous with a pulsating throb in your head.
Because it is difficult to find a clear cause for migraine headaches, and because it occurs so often, people sometimes hear that it is ‘Isn’t it a gimmick?’ However, migraine is a disease with a much higher intensity of pain than simple headache. What is migraine and how can it be prevented?
◆ One-third of migraine sufferers, the possibility of extreme choices…
There are two types of migraines. According to the presence or absence of an aura before the onset of symptoms, it is divided into ‘migraine with aura’ and ‘migraine without aura’.
Aura migraine is accompanied by symptoms such as numbness in the face or hands and feet, or aura in which blinking dots are seen in front of the eyes or multiple lines overlapping. The migraine that most people experience is an aura-free migraine without these auras.
Migraines are more common in women than men. It is estimated that about 8.3 million people, or about 16% of all adults, suffer from it. However, patients who visit a doctor regularly or receive regular treatment are rare. This is because there is a widespread perception that it is enough to take a commercially available headache medication and hold on for a while.
However, migraine headaches are a rather dangerous symptom to tolerate and ignore. According to the research results of Professor Jong-geun Seo of Kyungpook National University Hospital, published in the August issue of the Journal of the Korean Neuroscience Society, 33% of the subjects who experienced migraine showed suicidal tendencies, and most of them were women.
Also, among migraine patients with suicidal tendencies, about 80% of patients with depressive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder showed a fairly high number. The researchers added that appropriate treatment for depression or anxiety that accompany migraine patients must be accompanied.
◆ Daily stress management is the shortcut to prevention
According to the above research results, migraine headaches lead to enormous daily stress. Accumulation of stress can be seen as repeating a vicious cycle that leads to headaches again. Reducing the frequency of stress at this time is a great help in preventing headaches.
To reduce the frequency of stress, it is good to organize the causes of headaches. If you usually observe when your headache gets worse and write it down, you can avoid repeating the same cause in the future.
If you drink too much over a certain threshold and you get a headache, it is a big help to reduce the amount of alcohol you drink.
If you get a headache when you sit in front of a computer for a certain amount of time or longer because of work, you can feel much refreshed by just getting into the habit of stretching in between work.
Migraine headaches, like any other pain, are relieved by taking pain relievers. If the blood vessels in the brain repeatedly contract and relax too much, Botox injections are given to block them.
If the symptoms are severe, it is important not to take painkillers unconditionally, but to actively visit the hospital and get a prescription from a doctor. 