Katie Edwards, The Conversation
If you’ve ever had a migraine, you’ll understand the appeal of anything that promises to make it stop. Even when that advice involves attaching hair clips to your eyebrows.
Social media has plenty of suggestions. Some people swear by a large Coke and McDonald’s fries, which has gained the nickname of a “McMigraine”. Others recommend putting your feet in hot water while cooling the back of your head with spoons. Suddenly, managing a migraine seems to require the logistical planning of a spa day, with a takeaway delivery slot.
But how much science is there behind these remedies? And why can migraine make you feel so dreadful long before your head starts hurting?
In this episode of the Strange Health podcast, I explore the world of migraine and the online hacks promising relief with my co-host Dan Baumgardt, a practising GP and lecturer at the University of Bristol.
Our guest is Amanda Ellison, professor of neuroscience at Durham University and author of Splitting: The Inside Story on Headaches. Amanda experiences migraines herself, so she understands both the biology and the willingness to try something that might help.
Migraine can involve nausea and a heightened sensitivity to light or sound. Its effects can also begin hours or even days before the headache, with early symptoms including tiredness and food cravings. Not everyone experiences every stage, and some people have an aura, such as flashing lights or zigzag patterns, without a headache at all.
For Ellison, repeated yawning can be a warning that an attack is approaching. She explains what she notices as her symptoms develop, and describes the peculiar experience of having part of her vision disappear during a trip to the beach.
Then there’s the aftermath. The pain may have subsided, but exhaustion and difficulty concentrating can linger during the recovery phase, sometimes called the “migraine hangover”. There hasn’t even been a night out to account for it.
Ellison also helps us examine the reasoning behind some popular headache hacks. The important distinction is between a possible explanation for why something might offer comfort and evidence that it reliably treats migraine. Caffeine, for example, can help some people, but excessive consumption or withdrawal can also contribute to attacks. A takeaway order is hardly a carefully controlled treatment.
And in a discussion on migraine triggers, Ellison says chocolate gets a bad rap. If you eat it shortly before a migraine, it’s understandable to suspect a connection. But craving chocolate can itself be an early symptom of an attack that has already begun. The timing can make the snack look guilty.
Along the way, Ellison explains why identifying the kind of headache you have is a useful starting point: something that helps with brain freeze won’t necessarily help with migraine.
Listen to the episode for a lively exploration of what happens during an attack, and why understanding your own symptoms can help you make sense of the advice.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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