Migraine headaches are one of the most common problems seen in emergency departments, Chiropractors and doctors' offices. Migraines are due to changes in the brain and surrounding blood vessels.

Migraine headaches typically last from 4-72 hours and vary in frequency from daily to fewer than 1 per year. Migraine affects about 15% of the population. Three times as many women as men have migraines. More than 80% of people with migraines have other members in the family who have them too.

Different types of migraine headaches

• Common migraine accounts for 80% of migraines. There is no " aura" before a common migraine.
• People with classic migraines experience an aura before their headaches. Most often, an aura is a visual disturbance (outlines of lights or jagged light images). Classic migraines are usually much more severe than common migraines.

Migraine triggers

Migraine sufferers often notice that there are certain things that cause their headaches these are known as triggers. This trigger differs in every migraine sufferer.

• Certain foods, especially chocolate, cheese, nuts, alcohol, and MSG bring on headaches in some people (MSG is a food additive often used in Chinese cuisine). Smoking may also cause or aggravate migraines.
•  Stress and tension are risk factors for developing migraines.
• Birth control pills may also trigger migraines. Women may have migraines at the end of the pill cycle as the oestrogen part of the pill is stopped. This is known as an oestrogen-withdrawal headache.

Symptoms

Many migraine sufferers have a type of physical warning before the migraine beings. It may be a change in mood, a strange taste or smell, difficulty concentrating, fatigue and muscle tension. There is often an aura, which is usually a visual disturbance which occurs before the migraine starts sufferers may experience patterns or flashing lights or blind spots in their field of vision they may even lose sight temporarily in one eye.

The pain of a migraine usually appears on one side of the head and is often described as severe and throbbing. Some other symptoms are nausea, vomiting, light and sound sensitivity.  Migraines can last from 4-72 hours.

Chiropractic care is reported to have positive effects in reducing the severity and frequency of migraine headaches, particularly in those patients whose migraines are linked to neck pain and tension. Furthermore, the amount of medication required by migraine sufferers is often reduced during and following Chiropractic care.

Chiropractors are required by the General Chiropractic Council, the regulating body for chiropractic in the UK, to take a thorough history and carry out a physical examination of every patient, in order to form an appropriate diagnosis and to determine if the patient would benefit from chiropractic care. If the chiropractor identifies a patient who cannot be helped by chiropractic care, normal practice would be to refer the patient to the most appropriate healthcare practitioner for further consultation.

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