June is National Migraine and Headache Awareness Month. To help commemorate the campaign, Carthage Area Hospital is helping raise awareness about migraines, which are the third most prevalent illness in the world and affect approximately 1 billion people around the globe. Here’s everything you need to know about headaches and migraines.
What Exactly Is a Headache?
From time to time, everyone experiences a headache. The pain and pressure experienced due to a headache range from mild to severe and can occur at the forehead, temples and back of the neck. The typical headache can last from just a few minutes to a week. Triggers from headaches include stress, anxiety, sinus infections, birth defects, hemorrhages, aneurysms, strokes and other injuries and conditions.
How Is a Migraine Different from a Headache?
More intense than headaches, migraines are often coupled with other symptoms, like nausea, pain in the temples, seeing spots, light and/or sound sensitivity, temporary vision loss and vomiting. Unlike typical headaches, migraines are a neurological disease and feature a throbbing pain so severe that they can disrupt regular activities, preventing the sufferer from performing daily tasks. Migraine triggers may include emotional anxiety, alcohol and hormonal changes brought about by contraceptives and menopause.
What Are Common Treatments for Headaches and Migraines?
Fortunately, headache sufferers can usually find relief for their mild pain symptoms using over-the-counter medicines, like acetaminophen, aspirin and ibuprofen, or by practicing relaxation exercises. Migraines, on the other hand, are much more difficult to treat. For that reason, prevention measures can be especially beneficial. These include trigger avoidance, stress reduction and prescription medications. During a migraine, a person may also take anti-nausea medicines, moderate pain relievers and triptans, a type of prescription drug that stimulates serotonin to reduce inflammation.
Talk to Your Doctor about Headaches and Migraines
If you regularly experience headaches or migraines that impact your daily life, it’s time to speak to your primary care provider about prevention and treatment methods. To make an appointment today, contact the Carthage Family Health Center at 315-493-4187 or reach out to the Philadelphia Medical Center at 315-642-0026.