How to relieve a migraine?

Written by Liu Yan Hao
Neurology
Updated on February 18, 2025
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When a migraine occurs, one can temporarily take some painkillers for symptomatic treatment, which can quickly alleviate the pain. The prerequisite is to ensure that it is indeed a migraine. Typically, before a migraine starts, there are some precursor symptoms related to vision where one might experience blurred vision, distorted vision, or see wave-like patterns in front of their eyes. The headache symptoms often follow these visual symptoms after a short duration. Migraines can recur, and even without treatment, some may completely resolve within a few hours, which is typical of migraines. The occurrence of a migraine generally does not have a major impact on one's health, so one can take painkillers for symptomatic treatment. Additionally, it is advisable to avoid staying up late and overworking. Foods such as pickled products, cheese, and red wine should also be avoided as much as possible, as they can trigger migraine attacks.

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Written by Liu Yan Hao
Neurology
1min 16sec home-news-image

What should you pay attention to in daily life if you have migraines?

Patients with migraines should pay attention to maintaining a regular daily schedule, avoid staying up late, avoid overworking, and ensure sufficient sleep. Additionally, there are some foods that can trigger migraine attacks, such as pickled foods and salty vegetables, which contain nitrites that may provoke migraines. Other foods, like certain dairy products and red wine, can also trigger migraine attacks. Patients who experience migraines should try to avoid these types of foods to minimize occurrences. What is a migraine? Migraines typically present as unilateral head pain. A common symptom before the onset of a migraine headache is experiencing prodromal symptoms such as changes in vision, blurred vision, altered shapes, and seeing rippling patterns. These symptoms appear shortly before the headache begins, characterizing a typical migraine attack. During an attack, one can take pain relief medication to ease the pain. Migraines generally do not cause significant health issues, and even without medication, the pain usually resolves within a few hours, so there is no need to worry excessively. The main focus should be on the above points to reduce the frequency of migraine attacks. (Please use medication under the guidance of a doctor.)

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Written by Zhang Hui
Neurology
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What should I do if I have severe migraines?

Migraine is a very common type of headache with a high incidence rate. Severe migraines can lead to nausea, vomiting, and even an inability to move, significantly impacting the patient's life and work. When migraines are severe, they can be managed by taking oral medications, specifically drugs that target migraines, mainly ergot preparations and triptans. However, these medications should not be used by patients with severe hypertension or by pregnant women. Additionally, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs can also be taken to provide relief. Furthermore, symptomatic treatment should be administered for nausea and vomiting, using antiemetic drugs. If migraines frequently occur and severely affect life, preventive treatments can also be undertaken with oral medications. These mainly include receptor blockers and calcium channel antagonists.

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Written by Zhang Hui
Neurology
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What should I do if I always have migraines?

Migraine is a disease that severely affects quality of life. During a migraine attack, patients experience moderate to severe headaches, accompanied by nausea, vomiting, photophobia, phonophobia, and daily life is severely affected. Activities such as climbing stairs can progressively worsen the headache. If migraines occur frequently and severely affect daily life, it is advisable to undergo preventive treatment. Preventive medications primarily fall into three categories: the first category includes receptor blockers, the second category consists mainly of anti-epileptic drugs, and the third category comprises calcium channel blockers. These medications can effectively prevent the onset of migraines and can be taken under the advice of a doctor. Additionally, it is important to maintain a stable mood and ensure adequate sleep to prevent the onset of migraines.

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Written by Zhang Hui
Neurology
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How many days can a migraine recover?

For most cases of migraines, patients generally recover within three days. If migraine-specific medications are administered, recovery can be faster, with symptoms significantly alleviated within a day. If a migraine persists for more than three days without recovery, it is known as a status migraine, and specific migraine medications need to be used, such as ergot preparations or triptan drugs, which are effective. Some patients with prolonged migraine duration may need sedatives and drugs to reduce intracranial pressure for symptomatic treatment. Patients with migraines must ensure adequate rest, ensure good sleep, and maintain stable emotions. (Medications should be used under the guidance of a doctor.)

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Written by Feng Ying Shuai
Traditional Chinese Medicine
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Which part to massage for migraine?

Migraine is a clinical symptom where the patient perceives pain. Which areas should we massage? This depends on specific clinical symptoms of the patient. For example, if the pain occurs in the forehead, we would select acupuncture points on the forehead such as Yangbai and Zanzhu, including Sizhukong and Jingming. For distal points, we can choose Neiting to massage. Of course, if the pain is at the top of the head, we can select local points like Baihui and Tongtian, and choose Xingjian for distal points for massage. If the pain is on the sides of the head, we would select the wrist bone and Sizhukong, and then choose Waiguan for distal massage.