Authored by Dr Harsh Sharma, Edited and Peer Reviewed by Dr. Pooja Sharma

Published April 3, 2014, Last updated May 3, 2018

Meaning of the term Migraine

The original word was ‘hemicrania’ which got corrupted over time to ‘hemigranea’ and then ‘migranea’. It further got changed to ‘migraine’ and has remained that way ever since. This means pain in one half of head. This is often therefore considered as one sided headaches, though strictly speaking it does not mean only one sided headache or half headache. The pain may be in the whole of the head or in front part of head or the back part of head.

What is Migraine and Migraine Symptoms

It is a disease that has a variety of symptoms, the most prominent being headache. The character of the migraine headache is such that it keeps recurring at regular intervals with a symptom free period in between. The headache is usually accompanied with an intolerance of light, also called photophobia. Sometimes, there are other migraine symptoms like nausea, vomiting or some visual symptoms like stars floating in front of the eyes. Some people also experience temporary blindness which soon recovers. People tend to shun light during the headache and prefer being in dark surroundings. The pain mostly starts on one side and spreads to the whole head. Some people have gerneralised pain all over the head.

There is another form called Classical migraine which is preceded by an aura. The symptoms that constitute aura are mostly visual. The visual symptoms may include flashing lights, zig-zag lines or dark spots. Classical form is seen in roughly 10% of the patients.

The other 90% of the patients hardly have any aura. This is known as common migraine. In such cases, the headache starts without any warning symptoms. Nausea, vomiting may accompany such headache. There may also be some gastrointestinal symptoms like lack of appetite, aversion to food and diarrhoea or constipation.

What Triggers Migraine Headache or Cause of Migraine Headache

There are many factors that trigger migraine headache or migraine symptoms. Migraine causes vary from patient to patient. Some people cannot stand the presence of smoke or pollution. Some may get an attack of migraine symptoms after consuming alcohol. Lack of sleep, mental stress, bright light, hunger can all be migraine triggers in susceptible patients. A patient may be affected by more than one of the above mentioned migraine triggers. On the other hand, sleep, pregnancy and a calm state of mind often relieve migraine headaches.

Migraine is more common in women. Also, there may be a hereditary predisposition to this problem. This does not mean that children of patients having migraine will necessary develop it but only that they are at a higher risk.

One major migraine cause is stress. In modern day life, stress plays an important role in patients having migraine symptoms. Usually such people are known to have an exaggerated sensitiveness to external stimuli. In the present day scenario, it is almost impossible to completely abolish stress, one has to condition oneself to respond in a better manner. Meditation, yoga, breathing exercises and regular walks can be good stress buster. It is important here that one should follow these things in a consistent manner for some time to get good results. At the same time, one should understand that these things cannot be a substitute to treatment, rather they should be seen as good supportive measures.

Homoeopathic treatment of Migraine headaches

When one thinks of migraine cure or migraine treatment, one has to understand the difference between cure and migraine relief. When one takes a painkiller for headache, the pain is relieved in some time. The same pain may return next day or after a couple of days. This cycle keeps on getting repeated for years together. This is not what migraine cure is or should be. At best, this can be called migraine relief. Opposed to this, Homeopathic medicines have the ability to completely cure a patient. When it comes to Homeopathic treatment of migraine headaches, Homeopathy works on altogether different principles and does not resort to painkillers. On the contrary, Homeopathic migraine headache remedies aim at eradicating the tendency completely. I have had great success in the treatment of Migraine headaches, whatever the cause. Homeopathic medicines like Belladonna, Sanguinaria, Glonoine, Spigelia and Lycopodium have been known to give very good results in the treatment of Migraine. After taking Homeopathy treatment for migraine headaches for some time, you will be completely cured of it. There will be no recurrence of the headaches or any other migraine symptoms and you will be able to live a normal life, free of all migraine symptoms.