Head Pain

Migraines are more than ordinary headaches. Migraines include other symptoms such as nausea, or a sensitivity to light and sound. There are some common myths around migraine. For example, it is sometimes said that migraine affects only one side of the head. Migraine can be one-sided, but it is also common for the pain to be on both sides.

There are many different factors that can cause a headache. Here we are going to discuss how dehydration is a common cause, though often overlooked.

Sleep is an essential part of our everyday lives and one of our most basic human needs. During the time while we are asleep, our brains are at their most active. It is a time when they are able to rejuvenate, consolidate memories and sort through a whole days’ worth of information ready to start again in the morning.

Just when we think the growing pains are over, we’re gifted one last nasty surprise. Wisdom teeth are the last teeth to grow, however, some of us do not have enough room left in our jaw, so these teeth can get stuck. This can cause acute pain and many people have their wisdom teeth removed as a result.

Sinus pain and pressure can be frustrating and make you feel weakened. It can be distressing as it not only causes pain around your sinus area, but it can also feel like there is pressure around your whole head region. You may feel pressure or fullness around your eyes, cheeks, and forehead. It often gets worse if you move suddenly or bend forward.

In the past year, I've had about seven migraine headaches since being diagnosed by my GP, each one usually lasting around 24 hours. Myths around what a migraine is, had me thinking I was just experiencing your average headache.  But I’ve learnt a lot since then.

I’ve been having migraines for a while. They started in my early 20s and since then, I’ve had a migraine attack almost every 6 weeks. They can last anything from a couple of hours to 3 days. My migraine symptoms don’t come with visual disturbances, such as seeing flashing lights (known as migraine aura). Instead, I tend to feel tired and yawn a lot before the headache starts. I’ve been trying to figure out my migraine triggers with a migraine diary, for better migraine prevention.

When a migraine strikes it can be very painful and make you feel generally unwell. As the old saying goes, prevention is better than cure, and that’s true when it comes to migraines. Whilst there’s no known cure for migraines, there are plenty of preventative strategies that can help.

Understanding strategies to help prevent and avoid a migraine can help reduce the number of migraines that you suffer from. Migraine prevention hinges around identifying what triggers them. Triggers are influences, both inside and outside your body, that can result in a migraine.

Migraine symptoms are highly individual. For some it can feel like an intense throbbing on one side of your head. For some, it can be felt on both sides and even affect your face or neck, whilst for others it could be accompanied by nausea, vomiting and sensitivity to light and sound.

Understand migraine symptoms and explore the difference between a migraine and headache.

Did you know: that with migraines some people may experience a warning sign called an ”aura”, before the actual migraine starts.

Migraines can feel very different for different people.

Some people might feel like migraines strike out of the blue, whereas for others, migraines could begin with a few warnings. Knowing the causes and triggers of a migraine, can make it easier to avoid them.