Smoking may bring on and intensify a migraine. This approach is your best chance to stop it early. While you rest, press an ice pack to the back of your neck and apply gentle pressure to painful scalp areas. Don't ignore unexplained headaches. If self-care doesn't help after 1 or 2 days, see your health care provider.
Abortive drugs stop or decrease pain after a migraine starts.
Analgesics such as aspirin, acetaminophen, ibuprofen, naproxen sodium or other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs may ease mild to moderate migraines. These medicines work by mimicking serotonin. They're designed to bind to specific serotonin receptors on the trigeminal nerve and on blood vessels in your brain, causing them to constrict. Sumatriptan is available as a pill or injection. With tablets, pain and other symptom relief occurs in about 60 percent of people.