A GUIDE TO MIGRAINES

(Originally posted on December 28, 2019)

Over the course of many years being a #migraineur (yes, there is a term for someone who has #migraines), I’ve learned a thing or two about how to try and lessen some of the pain. I decided to make a compilation of my best “migraine hacks” and post them for anyone who needs some advice! This could apply to someone like me who always has a migraine or to someone who just gets the occasional headache.

I first would like to state that, although I have been to many many doctors, I am NOT a medical professional (lol). These are just little things I’ve picked up on over the years. These tips also do not require a doctor’s visit so they’re easy for everyone! If anyone wants to hear about my treatments through doctors and prescriptions I can share that on another post!

Secondly, I think it’s important to figure out (if you can), if you’re getting migraines after or before anything specific happens to you. This could be changes in the weather, a certain food you ate, getting your period, working out or not sleeping enough/having stress or strain in your life.

For example, I know the barometric pressure is changing without even having to look out the window to see a gloomy day- I will be in a lot of pain.

• I can’t eat Cheez-Its (random, right?) because I instantly feel sick and my head hurts like crazy.

• I also can’t eat any sort of preserved meat- salami, hot dogs, sausage, stuff like that. This also includes a lot of different alcohols, especially wine. Let’s just say I am real sad when the charcuterie boards get brought out.

• I personally don’t see a crazy spike in my migraines when it’s my time of the month, but I do know some girls do, so I thought I’d list it.

• I can’t hit “chest day” at the gym for the sole reason that my neck will tense up. Even with being taught proper form and starting with baby exercises I get MAJOR tension that goes from between my shoulder blades and moves upward through the back of my head, wrapping around to between my eyes. This triggers a who-knows-how-long episode which I highly recommend avoiding at all cost. So my workouts usually have to be on the low impact side. I enjoy yoga!

• The stress trigger is kind of obvious, but a hard one to avoid. Only you can work out something like that, so I really recommend taking care of yourself there!

My migraines are chronic, which means that they’re always with me, 24/7, but there are certain things that trigger a spike in my pain level, like what I listed above. Even though there’s no cure and pain medicines don’t work, I do little things to try and help myself get a little relief! P.S. Excedrin and Excedrin *Migraine* are the exact same medication- don’t waste your time buying both!

Stretching

Stretching is so important! I do lots of gentle neck stretches to help loosen the tension that I always seem to carry. 

I do a few different stretches:

• Sit up straight facing forward. Reach with your right hand up and over to the left side of

your head (above your left ear) and pull down gently so that your right ear is moving toward your right shoulder. You should feel the stretch in the outer left side of your neck. Hold for 30 seconds and switch sides. For an added stretch, place your left hand behind your back and you should feel it extend down to your shoulder.

• Sit up straight and turn your head so that your nose is pointing to 2:00. Reach your right hand up over your head and place it on the back of your head (it should look kind of like you’re Tebow-ing or a buff guy trying to kiss your bicep). Pull down gently so that your chin is moving down toward your collarbone. You should feel the stretch in the occipital area of your neck (or the middle/left side). Hold for 30 seconds and switch sides.

• Sit up straight and let your head lean back. You should feel a pull in the front of your neck. Be gentle when coming out of this one, I don’t want you to strain your neck! I personally enjoy this stretch the most when I can lay down and have my head hang off the edge of a surface so that gravity is doing all of the work for me.

Occipivot

I have a nifty helper that applies pressure and tries to loosen up tension in my neck. It’s called an #Occipivot, you can buy one off of Amazon for around $30. Believe me when I tell you that this thing is amazing. You place the little brick like thing underneath your head, lie down and the protrusions push on the occipital points in your skull. They’re at the base of your head above your neck, and if you reach back and feel the 2 bony bumps then congrats! You know the occipital region now. If you push on the bumps and feel a weird relief of tension then I highly recommend buying an Occipivot. You can also relieve the tension by applying pressure with your own fingers (and kind of massage it out), but I like to lay on mine for up to 5 minutes, so my hands would get too tired. 

Heat and Ice

Another way I like to get a little relief from migraines is by using #heat and #ice packs. I personally use ice packs way more than heat but they both feel amazing. Sometimes when I really don’t feel well, I’ll wrap an icepack in a towel and place it on my pillow and sleep through the night on it. I have a couple of pads that have the little beans in them, one’s a face mask and the other goes on my shoulders/neck (thanks, Sean!) that I love. I keep them in the freezer in a ziplock bag at all times so that they’re ready at any time. 

Sleep

When all else fails, I am an expert napper. When I’ve had it up to here with the pain I’ll just check out and take a nap and hope that when I wake up the pain has decreased. This is when the heat or ice pack can come in handy, especially if the pain keeps you awake (it does for me). I also take melatonin at night to try and help regulate a sleep cycle despite the pain. 

Supplements

Along with melatonin, I take a supplement called Migrelief (I buy it from Costco for $16 a bottle, it’s non-prescription but behind the counter at the pharmacy. It’s also sold online at migrelief.com). Migrelief contains Ribovlavin, Feverfew and Magnesium which are beneficial to those with migraines.

Vitamin B12 is another supplement that I take- it’s been shown that those who suffer from migraines may be deficient, so I think it’s worth taking.

I think it’s so important to try your best to be as aware of what you put in your body as well as any environmental factors that can be affecting your health. This is especially important when you’re faced with any sort of health issue because we tend to be more sensitive to influences like that.

I hope this is at least a little bit helpful! Headaches and migraines are absolutely horrendous. If you try any of my tricks let me know how they worked for you! Do you have any tips to share? Leave a comment!