If you’ve ever had a migraine, you know it’s not just a bad headache. If you’ve never experienced one, you may not realize how utterly debilitating they are for many sufferers. Headache is only one of many symptoms of a migraine.

Nearly one out of every five women and approximately one out of every twenty men are affected by migraines. Ninety percent of sufferers are completely unable to function during a migraine headache, making migraines one of the top twenty causes of disability, according to the World Health Organization.

Some migraine sufferers notice their migraines typically follow exposure to certain triggers. The most common migraine triggers are fatigue, hunger, hormones, and stress. Other common triggers include certain smells, especially perfumes or air fresheners, pollution, food additives, aged cheeses, alcohol, and cold foods. Identifying and avoiding triggers can help some people reduce the frequency of their attacks, but not necessarily eliminate them.

A migraine headache typically lasts between a few hours and three days, but an attack of migraine may last as long as a week and go through as many as four different phases.

The first phase is known as the prodrome and affects about 60% of sufferers. This phase may begin up to two days before the headache and may involve food cravings, mood changes, digestive issues, and sensitivity to noise and odors.

The next phase of a migraine is the aura phase. Up to 30% of sufferers experience sensory disturbances up to an hour before the onset of the headache. The most common auras are visual disturbances, such as flashing lights, blind spots, blurriness, and patterns. Other auras may include phantom smells or tastes, ringing in the ears, or numbness and tingling starting in the extremities. Occasionally, a sufferer may experience sensorimotor issues during this phase.

The phase most people think of when they think of migraines is, of course, the headache phase. However, even this phase does not affect all migraine sufferers, nor does it necessarily affect every migraine in those who do experience it. It’s unclear how common this is, simply because most people who seek medical attention for migraine do so because of the pain. In a small majority of migraines, the headache is limited to one side of the head, but 40% of migraines involve both sides of the head. The headache is typically accompanied by nausea and vomiting and may be aggravated by noise, light, or movement. During this phase, migraine sufferers will look for the darkest, quietest place available and lay down until it passes.

After the headache subsides is the postdrome phase, basically a ‘migraine hangover’, that can last a few days. There may be some residual headache pain as well as impaired cognition, mood changes, fatigue, and weakness.

In the past, the cause of migraines was believed to be neurovascular in origin. Now, migraines are believed to originate in a combination of vascular structure, the outer membrane of the brain, the scalp, the base of the skull, and the trigeminal nerve. However, the exact mechanism is not yet known for certain.

There are medications that can relieve migraine symptoms in some sufferers, but these do not treat the causes of migraine and can have unpleasant side effects. Frequent users can also develop tolerance and require higher and more frequent doses to get relief.

While the exact cause of migraines is uncertain, chiropractic care provides lasting relief without side effects, toxicity, or tolerance. The gentle manipulation chiropractors are trained to use has been proven to reduce the number and severity of attacks.

If you are looking for relief from migraines, call Chatfield Chiropractic now on (03) 9303 9952 Roxburgh Park or (03) 9746 3977 Sunbury to schedule an appointment.