The Migraine Relief Center Blog

Almost 5 million people in the U.S. suffer a migraine episode at least once a month, while more than 11 million people believe migraines are the cause of disability. Women develop migraines most frequently, with 18% of all females experiencing the condition. That doesn’t mean the men escape, however, and 6% of American men have migraine episodes regularly. Interestingly, both symptoms and triggers can be different for migraines in men, who are more sensitive to light than women, but less so to...

Getting enough sleep is important for most people, but for migraine sufferers the quality of sleep can affect them as much as the quantity. Without restful sleep we’re not at our best, and we have lower resistance to health conditions.

Smartphones, tablets and computers are a fact of life in the 21^stcentury, and in the first quarter of 2018 US adults spent three hours and 48 minutes a day on computers, tablets and smartphones,according to a study by market-research group Nielsen. This is a 13-minute increase from the previous quarter, and 62% of that time is spent browsing the internet and using apps on smartphones.

Remember when your grandmother would say she could feel a storm coming “in her bones?” That was based on barometric pressure, which is the term scientists give to the weight of the air pressing on the earth’s surface. This pressure triggers various physical reactions, and because it governs the air currents and weather, it can also cause migraine patients to develop headache episodes.

Migraine is the third most common disease in the world, and it affects more people than diabetes, asthma, and epilepsy combined, according to facts and figures from the Migraine Trust. While medical science is still working to understand all the causes and triggers of migraines, some sufferers report that sustaining neck and back injuries can increase the frequency of their attacks.

Almost every day, we learn more about the condition of migraine that plagues up to 38 million Americans every year. The problem is, much of the information passed on by people from one to another is inaccurate, and if you listen to family members and friends you can get the wrong idea entirely. Here are some of the more common myths, followed by the actual facts. Make a point of knowing the real story, and you can set someone right if you find them spreading false information.

Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the U.S., affecting 18.1% of American adults each year according to statistics from the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (AADA). That’s 40 million people aged 18 or older, who all experience different symptoms and levels of intensity. For most patients, this means constant worrying and defensive behavior, including avoiding stimuli like objects and places they know will trigger their condition.

Many people believe doing exercise can cause migraines. Since every patient is different and triggers vary between people, it’s possible that activity could be one of your triggers. If this is the case, chances are good it’s because at least a few other factors are present. In some instances, however, migraineurs are known to experience “exercise headaches,” which typically present as a distinctive type of pain.

What happens in the brain most definitely does not stay only in the brain. Few medical conditions function in a vacuum, without any relationship to other parts of the body. That’s true of migraines, too, which we already know have connections to aural and visual issues.

To wine or not to wine, that is the question for many migraine sufferers who believe there is a connection between drinking wine and developing an attack. While alcohol in general is considered a common trigger by some, research from the American Migraine Foundation appears to show the risk is overrated. The most common reason for a headache associated with wine consumption is drinking too much of it. This presents itself as a hangover that causes stress, which is an undisputed trigger of...