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If you’re interested in learning how to prevent a migraine headache, it helps to first know what causes migraines. By understanding the root cause, you can better understand the potential cures.

A migraine is caused by the enlargement of the temporal artery, which is the artery that lies on the outside of the skull and under the skin of your forehead. When this artery enlarges, it stretches nerves around it and they in turn release certain chemicals. These chemicals are the cause of the pain that is called a migraine, and they also cause the artery to enlarge even more causing more pain, more enlargement. Migraines are just a never-ending circle of agony. When considering how to prevent a migraine headache, it’s important to understand the circle, so that you at least don’t do anything to make it worse.

What Causes Migraines

Obviously the cause of migraines is going to be different for everyone. However, to consider how to prevent a migraine headache, it helps to remember that stress hormones that cause migraines can be released by such things as fasting, bright lights, caffeine, and artificial substances such as MSG or aspartame. There may be other sensitivities that you yourself have.

One of the steps involved in how to prevent a migraine headache is to keep track of the specific trigger for you. If you suffer from frequent migraines [http://www.yourheadacheremedy.com/stop-your-headaches/], you should keep a food diary to see if there are certain triggers for you. Since bright lights also trigger this particular nerve in some people, think of how this might be applicable to you. For example, do you work in a place where the lights change frequently, such as a movie theater or some type of lab where you go from a dark room to a bright room?

How to Prevent a Migraine Headache Naturally

There is good reason why migraines do not normally respond to regular headache medications. This type of pain caused by migraines activates what is known as the sympathetic nervous system, that “fight or flight” response that is common during stress. This reaction pulls blood and oxygen from the digestive system in order to divert it to the muscles of your legs. This keeps oral medications from being absorbed in the intestinal systems.

So when considering how to prevent a migraine headache, you see how regular aspirins and other oral medications are probably going to do little to help. They are simply not absorbed the way they should be.

Some ways to treat migraines naturally include acupuncture, which seems to calm that temporal artery and the sympathetic nerve system after it.

When considering how to prevent a migraine headache naturally, try oils such as lavender or peppermint. These can be put in a vaporizer or washcloth. Calcium and magnesium relieve muscle tension, so consider taking a supplement with these elements.

Don’t forget the more obvious remedies of giving yourself a mini massage and staying in a darkened room. Watch your diet and get rid of artificial sweeteners and substances. And if all else fails, see your doctor so he or she can accurately diagnose your condition and give you additional pointers on how to prevent a migraine headache permanently.

Several types of migraine headache affect the eye, but there are no headaches medically diagnosed as optical migraines. The problem with such a term starts with its definition. Optical means relating to sight or to the eye. Migraine comes from the Greek, hemikranion, meaning pain on one side of the head.

So, the term is quite broad, meaning pain on one side of your head relating to your eye or your sight which can cover an awful lot of ground to be honest. What someone may call an optical migraine is usually either an ocular migraine or an opthalmoplegic one.

Most headaches described as optical migraines are really ocular migraines, which are a type of migraine without headache, also known as aura without migraine. Although the ocular type of headache is rare, it is the most common type of migraine without headache. Ocular migraine symptoms usually are described as flashing, shimmering, or glittering lights or they may resemble the static you see on a television.

The symptoms of this type of migraine usually last less than an hour. People who experience this type of migraine generally exhibit the same symptoms for long periods of time. If this type of headache is new to you or if your symptoms change, it is important to consult your doctor to rule out other serious causes – never leave these things to chance.

Opthalmoplegic migraines are a very rare, severe form of eye-migraine. This type of “optical migraine” begins with severe pain in the eye that often causes vomiting. The cause of this migraine is thought to be weakness in the muscles that surround the eye. Aside from the acute pain, as the migraine intensifies, nerves in the eye become paralyzed and cause the eyelid to droop.

This phenomenon, called ptosis, can go on for weeks. Opthalmoplegic migraines are most commonly found in children. However, the true danger is that this headache isn’t a migraine at all. No matter what your age, if your headaches exhibit these symptoms, it’s very important to seek medical attention to rule out other severe health conditions. Prevention is always better than cure right?

People with a severe type of migraine in which one side of the body becomes weak should consider genetic testing, according to research that has found familial genes for this type of migraine in people who did not have family members experiencing the problem.

The findings are published in the December 4, 2007, issue of Neurology ?, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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