Migraine Treatment – a hope of ray from Ayurveda

Are you tired of a severe headache that lasts for hours or 2 to 3 days? Feeling tired with a lack of energy and a tendency to vomit? 

Are you seeing any flashy lights around objects?  If yes, this can be a peculiar type of headache known as migraine. 

Who can get a Migraine?

 If you’re a female, you have more probability of getting this type of headache when you are nearing your periods or in the pregnancy stage. If you are a male, work-related stress can also be the cause of this type of headache. As per WHO, you can have migraine starting from the age of puberty until about 45 years as per studies. 

 What is Migraine?

Migraine is a throbbing type of pain felt in the head; even in the sides of your forehead, you may feel the pain. It can be caused due to nerve and blood circulation imbalances in your head. The researchers have not found any exact cause yet. 

 Symptoms of migraine

Pulsating headache, difficulty to tolerate light,  noise, and odor,  recurring pain,  blurred vision, seeing flickering lights, the pain gets reduced after vomiting in some cases. Sometimes you may just experience this vomiting tendency only (nausea).

Types of migraine

There are many types of migraine. You can have migraine with or without aura also. When you are having a headache with a colorful aura in front of you this is the classical migraine or the migraine with aura.

If you are having a severe headache without an aura, it is a common type of migraine. There are other types of migraine also like abdominal migraine, silent migraine (silent migraine comes without a headache), hemiplegic migraine, etc. 

You can also have muscle weakness, dizziness, etc. after having an episode of migraine.

 The need of maintaining your diet and lifestyle

When you are having a migraine, you will experience that you are getting the migraine worsened when you are having food that is too spicy oil fried.

Especially dark chocolates, red meat, red wine, alcohol, junk food, and beverages increase your chances of getting migraine episodes.

 So what you can have?

• Always adopt fresh fruits and veggies like carrot, cabbage, cauliflower, cucumber, and fennel.
• Fruits like apple guava fig mango etc. 
• Drink water boiled with coriander seeds.  
• Eat well , sleep well and do things with care and precision to avoid rush and stress – both. 

Don’ts in migraine care 

• Avoid excessive use of sense organs , like watching too much TV , staring on flickering lights , hearing loud noises etc. 
• Keep yourself away from hot spicy fried food which makes your heat energy again on high levels. 
• Don’t think about taking overnight schedules at work for long periods . 

Ayurvedic opinion about migraine

Ayurveda says the migraine comes under an imbalance of Tridoshas – wind energy Vata, fire energy Pitta and stabilizing energy Kapha is not in balance when you have migraine. 

Ayurveda includes migraine headaches under the name  Ardhavabhedaka. The half of the head gets painful and this becomes severe affecting the sensations in the ears, eyes also. 

Ayurveda says such a type of headache can occur due to exposure to intense sunlight also.

Other causes for this are indigestion, exposure to toxins in the atmosphere,  air and water pollution, and hereditary causes.

When you are not having sleep also this can manifest. Try to remember when you had your last episode of migraine? Was it triggered due to any specific intense fragrance, diet, or stress? You can also maintain a migraine diary to note down this.

Ayurvedic medicines for Migraine

Ayurvedic medicines like Pathyaksha dhatryadi kashaya, Sitopaladi choorna, Triphala choorna help to reduce the intensity of migraine if consumed regularly after the advice of a registered Ayurvedic physician. Depending on your symptoms and physical constitution Prakriti, the medicines and treatment are advised. 

Ayurvedic migraine treatment

Ayurvedic treatments like Shirolepam ( applying medicated paste on forehead), Shirodhara ( Pouring medicated liquid on the head from a  fixed distance from the above ), Nasyam ( instilling medicated nasal drops in each nostril ), Shirovasti ( Pouring medicated liquid on a head covered with a cap or bandage with dough on it as a barrier ). Ayurvedic treatments help to improve blood circulation to the head and cure nerve imbalance. 

Home remedies for migraine 

• Having ginger tea daily so as to regulate your body heat and digestion properly. 
• Use essential oils like lavender oil to calm your nerves. The soothing aroma will reduce your stress within no time. You can also add these in your bath water. 
• Apply paste of nutmeg to reduce your pain. You can also use ice compress to decrease the throbbing pain of migraine .
• Drink more water and ensure sleep of at least 8 hours to balance your body rhythm. 
• When you are having proper routine, diet and lifestyle, the migraine becomes manageable easily.
• Practicing yoga pranayama daily at least for half an hour is  advisable. 

Complications

If not treated at the correct time, migraine can lead to complications like stroke,  depression, anxiety,  Vertigo, sleeplessness excessive nausea, vomiting, etc.

Role of  Ayurveda in curing migraine

Ayurveda, the ancient wisdom has always emphasized the importance of being careful about mind, body, and speech balance. 

When we are going behind unnecessary sensual pleasures and avoiding the healthy existence of our body, our tridoshas Vata, Pitta, and Kapha get deranged. This is also called Prajnaparadha, knowingly we are reaping results of our own ignorance as diseases like migraine. 

Sitting continuously and staring at a computer screen for prolonged hours, having junk food that too at odd hours not even thinking about our hunger becomes the seed for lifestyle diseases like obesity, migraine, etc. Our senses also get exhausted in this process and the body systems are also affected. 

Ayurveda has contributed very much to the branch of ophthalmology and ENT termed as Shalakya tantra. Being aware of the time-tested principles in this arena helps you to master your senses and lead a healthy life.  If you are sure to take care of your health, then Ayurveda can help you in a large way. Be prepared to be the change-maker in your life.