What you can do to help minimize the impact of headaches and migraines near San Bruno

A standard headache may cause you some discomfort, but a migraine can have your head feeling as if it’s about to explode. No matter how strong you may be, sometimes you just cannot power through them and, even with the aid of medication, you may have to put an end to your day and what you are doing until the migraine goes away.

Those who don’t experience migraines may not understand that they can last for days or that, due to the severe nature of a migraines, that they can present a real danger if one occurs while you are (for instance) behind the wheel of a car or are unable to get home before one escalates. You don’t get to choose when a migraine occurs, but it’s important that you have a plan that you can put into effect when one occurs.

Recognize your triggers

The first thing you can do for yourself is to know your triggers. Migraines can surface out of nowhere at times, but there are often triggers that are the cause. If you’ve experienced migraines often, you most likely know these triggers. Triggers can range from certain smells, changes in the weather or even the foods you eat. It’s important to know these triggers so that so that you can get ahead of the approaching migraine and be able to put an effective plan in place for handling it.

Develop a plan

There may be nothing you can do that will completely eradicate an existing migraine, but there are steps you can take to make sure you put yourself in the best position possible. It will do you a world of good to have a plan in place that you can follow. You may need to go through a trial and error stage when developing this plan, but here are a few tips to try:

• When possible, find a dark, quiet and comfortable room where you can lie down. Even if you don’t have a place to lie down, try to have a room where you can turn off the lights.

• Gentle pressure can sometimes help. Try applying gentle pressure to areas of pain in your temples and scalp. A light massage to these areas may be a great help.

• Try to have a hot/cold compress accessible to you that you can apply to your neck and/or head. Find a temperature that’s right for you.

Knowing how to get ahead of migraines and having a plan in place to deal with them, while it will not completely relieve you of the pain that a migraine presents, will really benefit you. If you are looking for help in dealing with these migraines, give Dr. Jamil Alkhoury at TMJ & Sleep Therapy Centre of San Francisco a call at 415-226-7274 to set up an appointment.

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