A good friend of mine who I’ve known for quite sometime claimed that within the past couple of days he’s been waking up with throbbing pain on one side of his head. Some days the pain would be on the right side of his head while on other days it would be on the left. He said that the pain would keep him from eating because he would have feelings of nausea which totally cancelled his appetite. Even the smell of food would make him sick to his stomach. It’s obvious that my friend had some form of headache but the type of primary headache disorder he was suffering from is what can be simply identified only as a migraine. Most of the time a migraine can affect one side of the head with throbbing pain. Nausea and sensitivity to certain types of light are symptoms that could be connected to migraines along with sensitivity to certain types of sound, scent and possibly even vomiting.

However, migraines can be treated. First and foremost you must identify and distinguish a migraine from other types of headaches such as “Tension Headaches” which affect your head, neck and shoulders. Extreme and intense pain on the temple or around the forehead occurs from cluster headaches. The pain can come and go when dealing with this type of headache. One minute you think your pain is gone for the day only to realize that it comes back to attack you later that day or evening. If the symptoms of a migraine such as throbbing pain, nausea, light sensitivity and sound are distinguished from other types of headaches, then the proper treatment for a migraine can be done. Migraines can be treated either naturally or through medications. Some individuals would prefer medication for their migraine because they want it to go away as soon as possible while others will try to phase out the pain naturally.

For myself, when it comes to choosing between medication or natural methods in dealing with a migraine I’ve done both methods. I’ve had some migraines that were doozies which led me to taking medicine for it but I’ve also used natural methods in minimizing them. I’m fortunate that the migraines I’ve experienced were all non-aural. An aura is a warning sign that usually precedes the attack of a migraine which are commonly visual disturbances but also can be verbal or sensory disturbances. Visual disturbances affect your field of vision which can be obstructed. Your speech could be affected with a verbal aura and a sensory aura usually gives an individual a feeling of numbness.

Over the counter pain relievers can be used for a migraine if you don’t have a prescription such as ibuprofen, aspirin, or acetaminophen but it would be advisable to talk to your physician before taking any type of medication. A good and natural method for minimizing a migraine would be a cold compress to the head because it could possibly ease and numb the pain.