What makes migraines such a chronic and complex condition?
Five million Australians suffer with migraines and up to 70% of those are women. 2% of the worldwide population suffers from chronic migraines, so what actually makes migraines such a chronic and complex condition?
This week is actually National Headache and Migraine Awareness Week, so we are talking about why migraines are such a persistent and complex disorder to treat. So many people suffer from headaches and migraines, and they're a debilitating condition, they rob you of so much of your life. That's why we're so passionate about treating headaches and migraines here at Melbourne Headache Solutions because they're just so unfair for so many people, and they shouldn't have to rob you of so much of your life.
Why are they so chronic and complex?
Why is there so much mystery about them?
Well, when it comes time from migraine, there's an area of your brain known as the brainstem, and in chronic migraine sufferers it is sensitized, also known as being hyperexcitable.
The research is clear on this as being the underlying cause of migraine.
When the brainstem is hyperexcitable, it's prone to setting off migraines due to any and unknown triggers. So common triggers as I'm sure you're all aware of are things like chocolate, red wine, cheeses, hormones, lack of sleep, temperature changes, wind, those sorts of things.
In particular, at the moment in Melbourne, we're going through all sorts of weather changes, it's nice to see some more sunshine though, I've got to admit. So what can make your brainstem sensitised so that you become a migraine sufferer?
YOUR NECK
Well, there are many things that can contribute to your brainstem becoming sensitised, so the first thing is your neck. Most migraine sufferers have a strong neck component to their migraines, in particular, the top three joints, so C0-1, C1-2 and C2-3, up here.
So basically, when you've got a neck dysfunction here, then it can refer pain into the face and the head, and also when you've got neck dysfunctions, then it can increase that sensitivity to the brainstem due to the anatomical relationships.
So, for headache and migraine sufferers, it's very important that you get this area into a correct alignment and also moving smoothly and evenly so decrease that stiffness in through the area, so that helps to bring down that sensitisation of the brainstem so that's very important.
THE JAW
The second one is your jaw or also known as your TMJ, so if you've got TMJ pain, you're a clincher, you're a grinder, then these things can actually cause neck dysfunctions as well. And as we just heard, your neck can be a massive contributor to your headaches and migraines. Your jaw can also cause pain in your face itself, and it can also increase a sensitivity level to what's known as your trigeminal nerve, which is the nerve that innovates your face and that nerve feeds into your brainstem and can increase the sensitivity level as well.
So we want to make sure that, as I just said, you've got TMJ pain, if you're a clincher or a grinder, you want to make sure that you're getting that assessed as well.
SLEEP
Sleep is a massive one for headache and migraine sufferers. We know that there is a relationship between the two, but we don't know which way it goes, so we don't know whether sleep causes headaches and migraines or whether headaches and migraines creates a sleep disturbance. But we do know that if you improve sleep, then you do improve your headaches and migraines, so you want to make sure that you're improving your sleep to help decrease your pain.
STRESS
So, we also know that stress is a massive factor for headaches and migraines, it's one of the number one reported trigger for headaches and migraines. Acute stress isn't so bad for people. Acute stress can actually be a really good driving force. So, we need it in our day-to-day lives, sometimes it helps to protect us. So, say, when we're driving and something runs out in front of us, we need stress, we need that acute reaction to help prevent us from getting into an accident.
However, when we're exposed to prolonged or repeated stress all the time, our body starts to decompensate. We start to then get things like headaches and migraines, we start to get colds more easily, we start to feel fatigued and our brain starts to fog up and these sorts of things. So we need to make sure that we're staying on top of our stress levels to help decrease our stress or else otherwise our brainstem starts to become more sensitised and therefore, we're more likely to have a chronic headaches and migraines ongoing wise.
ANXIETY & DEPRESSION
Anxiety and depression can also feed into headaches and migraines and has a really strong relationship, so we do know that with anxiety and depression, that if they're unmanaged and untreated at the same time as chronic headaches and migraines, then we get the worst treatment outcomes, which is not what we want, we want the best treatment outcomes. When it comes time for mood disorders, sleep and headaches and migraines, they actually share the same area of the brain, and so as I said, we want to be making sure that we're treating these things all at the same time in order to get the best outcomes and the quickest outcomes. So other things as well that can contribute to the brainstem sensitisation which is contributing and causing your headaches and migraines are things like supplements. You can be deficient in supplements, so common things are the B vitamins, so B2 or riboflavin, things like coenzyme Q10 magnesium is a massive one. And so when we're deficient in these, then it can contribute to your headaches and migraines, so an easy one is adding these back into your diet through the food or supplements.
ELECTROLYTES
If our electrolytes are out of balance, it can definitely create headaches and migraines and the same thing with hydration, so we want to make sure that we're staying hydrated, and particularly in Melbourne again, the weather is starting to get warmer, so we want to make sure that our hydration levels and our electrolytes are staying at the appropriate levels.
GUT HEALTH
When it comes time for our gut health as well, our gut health is especially important. Everything that goes into our body is reflected somewhere. For some people, it's their skin, for other people it's their weight, and for other people it's their headaches and their migraines. Everything that goes in is reflected somewhere, and you want to be making sure that you're putting good things into your body. Decreasing the processed sugars, putting all the gorgeous fruit and vegetables into your body, making sure that you're feeding yourself nutrients and not the junk food.
FOOD TRIGGERS
And being mindful of your triggers as well, if you know that you have food triggers, then that's a good place to start. If you don't have food triggers, or you're not sure, then you can try doing a food trigger diary, then keeping a track of it, but essentially, the more good things, the healthier things that you can do, and the bigger healthier portions that you can have on your plate, so more like three-quarters of good food and one-quarter of things like carbohydrates, that we love to eat, but aren't nutrient dense, then that is better. As I said, they're reflected in us somewhere, and for a lot of people, it creates headaches, migraines, brain fog, confusion, and those sorts of things.
HORMONES
The other one as well, for a big one, for women is hormones. Hormones can either act as a trigger for us, particularly around menstruation, or alternatively, it can add to that brainstem sensitisation. By a trigger, I mean things like red wine, cheeses, chocolate, that sort of thing.
So it's not actually the cause of your headaches and migraines, it's just that every time around your period, around your cycle, it sets off a headache or a migraine. So in terms of that, then you've got to treat the cause of the headaches and the migraines, and then when your cycle comes around, then your hormones don't set off a headache or a migraine.
The other way is that you've got a hormonal imbalance, and usually, this happens when estrogen drops and then you get your symptoms. And again, this happens usually around menstruation time.
If you're suffering from a hormonal imbalance, then it means you've got to do something more about your hormones, in order to get them balanced, otherwise it's contributing to that brainstem sensitisation and it's keeping you in this headache or migraine state. There are many, many, many things that can contribute to these brainstem sensitisation and can contribute to your headaches and migraines.
MIGRAINE IS COMPLEX
Now, for some people, it's wonderful. They do one thing, and they fix their chronic headaches and migraines, which is great. That is fabulous. But for many people, it's actually more like fixing a puzzle. You've got to understand what are the many things that might be contributing to your specific headaches and migraines in order to solve your puzzle, and that's usually what's gone wrong.
They've tried to fix one thing, or they've tried to fix another thing, or they've tried to fix another thing at independent times, but you've have to treat all of them together in order to get the best results possible, and that's why headaches and migraines are quite a complex and chronic condition, because you've have to be able to understand that puzzle.
TAKE THE COMPLEXITY OUT OF YOUR MIGRAINES BY TAKING OUR QUESTIONANIRE
So we've got a questionnaire up, that I've linked up above, so if you're a bit confused about your headaches and migraines, you're not sure what's causing your headaches and migraines, fill out the questionnaire here.
We've made it nice and simple and easy for you, so that you can hopefully help to understand your headaches and migraines better, so that you can be doing better about them. As I said before, no one should be suffering with headaches and migraines. They are a horrible condition. I would not wish them on my worst enemy, so help us spread the awareness, this National Headache and Migraine Awareness Week.
So hopefully, we can spread the awareness and help a lot more people. As I said, we are super passionate here about helping people here at Melbourne Headache Solutions to find a better answer, because headaches and migraines are one of the worst conditions that I can ever imagine for people, having been through it myself.
I hope you found this helpful. If you have, please like, share, comment, spread it around. We want to spread the awareness. And if you got any questions, any queries, any anything at all, drop it below, let me know, and I'll get back to you. Thanks, everybody. Stay safe, stay healthy, and I'll catch you next time.
Dr. Beth Osteopath at Melbourne Headache Solutions
Take our free migraine assessment to find the underlying cause of your migraines today.
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