Migraines: are there alternative treatment methods?

This article discusses two alternative treatment methods for relieving migraine symptoms. Migraine is a common form of severe headache. It has a strong negative impact on the lives of people suffering from it. Every day, some 70,000 Dutch people have a migraine attack and most are unable to function properly at that time. In women, it is three times more common than in men. If you have migraine, you should see your GP with it. A migraine attack is very painful and always inconvenient. If the attacks occur regularly, it affects work performance and also leads to problems maintaining social contacts. Even practising sport is sometimes affected.

In this article, you will find two alternative methods to reduce migraines, namely: diet and regular use of the infrared sauna.

Characteristics of migraine

A person who has a migraine attack feels sick for several hours to several days. Besides severe headache, nausea and vomiting are also common. The headache is usually on one side of the head and is experienced as throbbing or throbbing. Pain on both sides of the head also occurs and sometimes, in unilateral headaches, the pain may switch sides during an attack. Often a person is hypersensitive to light, sound or smell during an attack.

Causes of migraine

Migraines are caused by the contraction and dilation of blood vessels in your head. Substances in your brain that transmit nerve impulses (neurotransmitters) probably play an important role. Why some people have more frequent or more frequent symptoms than others is not clear. What can trigger a migraine attack is different for each person. The most common factors in men and women are:

• Tension and stress.
• The transition from stress to relaxation.
• Certain substances in food:
• Flavour enhancers (in Chinese food and ready-to-eat dishes).
• Sulphite (in wine).
• Nitrate (in celery, endive, spinach, lettuce, fennel, pointed cabbage, Chinese cabbage and beetroot).
• Artificial sweetener (aspartame).

Women have triggering factors related to female hormones, such as:

• The period around menstruation.
• Use of the pill or hormonal contraception.
• Menopause.

Alternative method 1: diet and migraines

Nutrition can have a big impact on migraines, wrong diet but also deficiencies of vitamins and minerals.

• Ensure adequate Magnesium, it improves stress resistance
• Beetroot and melon juice provides vasodilation
• Vitamin B2 and B6. In a large proportion of migraineurs, homocysteine seems to be
  homocysteine to be a cause. In this case, the liver has a problem converting B vitamins to the active (usable) form.
• Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids, balancing these fatty acids has very many positive effects on reducing migraine attacks.
• Healthy gut flora through probiotics, A pilot study done by Gelderse Vallei Hospital and Wageningen University in 2012 showed that intake of 2 grams of probiotics per day reduced migraine attacks and severity. Possibly because the probiotics reduced the symptoms of a ‘leaky gut’. A ‘leaky gut’ often seems to play a role in migraine patients.
• Too many acid-forming foods like sugar, coffee, cheese, meat and cold cuts, peanuts, soya.
• Nuts, seeds, kernels, vegetables and fruits are healthy to eat though with a supplement of vitamin C in addition
• Hypoglycaemia, the rapid rise and then fall of blood sugar levels also appears to be a triggering factor in many migraineurs. This is because the rapid rise and fall is accompanied by the production of stress hormones that can lead to alternating tightening and relaxing of the vessels. This is a common cause of migraine attacks.
• Hormonal problems are a major trigger of migraines. The two main routes to restoring hormonal balance are:
  - Rebalancing the Omega-3 and -6 fatty acids
  - Solving blood sugar problems, optimising gut and liver functions, stress regulation.
• Stress hormones or thyroid problems (then one often gets migraines with severe fatigue) can also be a major trigger.
• Allergic factors / intolerance to foods.
• Almost all patients are sensitive to foods that trigger an attack, so to speak. The biggest ‘triggers’ are:
  - Chocolate
  - (old) cheese
  - The E numbers E248, 249, E220 - E228
  - Monosodium Glutamate or MSG, called Ve-tsin or E621. If you know of yourself that E621 is a trigger you could drink tea made from Ginkgo leaf very regularly.
• Regular paracetamol (or another painkiller) can trigger new attacks.

This is because liver detoxification is severely tested. There is now also a natural form of ‘paracetamol’: Pea Pure. This remedy can be ordered on the internet. When an attack is imminent, crumble the tablets and let them melt under your tongue.Unfortunately, like other painkillers, it does not work for everyone. - An adequate amount of the substance Q10 has the effect of reducing the number of attacks in a large proportion of migraine sufferers.
Our body's Q10 production decreases as we age and our diet is not very rich in Q10. The sources with the most Q10 are organ meats, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, red palm oil, egg, spinach, avocado. - Ginger powder, as well as Sumatriptan, can dock an attack (1).
In some people, headache or migraine attacks are intensified by such migraine inhibitors. In a study of 100 migraine patients, ginger powder was found to give as good and fast relief as Sumatriptan. And then with no side effects. - Heavy metal load can also be a cause of migraine attacks.
The important thing is to detoxify in doses with spirulina or chlorella.

• Exercise at least 1 hour a day
• Drink plenty of water possibly supplemented with electrolytes
• Go detoxing in the infrared sauna once a week. Make sure you are not constipated before entering the sauna. Detoxing releases waste products and heavy metals, partly from the skin but also through faeces and urine.

Alternative method 2: Infrared sauna and migraines

Infrared sauna use can certainly help reduce migraine attacks, but so can diet and supplements, stress management and hormone balance. Infrared sauna is preferable to Finnish sauna as it draws the waste deeper into the body and drains it away. In an infrared sauna, you can relax, let go of everything and put your mind at zero. After about 20 minutes, your muscles will relax completely. Due to the improved blood flow, waste products are drained faster and can give your migraine relief.

It is important that you buy an infrared sauna that has a good detox function. This is very important if you want to use it to relieve migraine symptoms. This is because not all infrared saunas have a good detox function. If you have any questions about this, we at SuperSauna are happy to help. Visit one of our shops or give us a call.