With new medications and several alternative therapies, these patients are now getting relief. Packard noted that women are three times more likely to suffer from migraines than men are. And while about 15 million women in the United States suffer from the headaches, only about 5 million see a doctor. Physical therapy and relaxation exercises are individual, as each person relates to therapy differently. For instance, if a patients is experiencing neck pain and it is radiating up, the therapy can be aimed at trying to relax the neck muscles and getting the inflammation down, Packard said.
Preventive options focus on diet - avoiding certain foods, which can trigger migraines.
Chocolate, aged cheese and red wine are a few foods to steer clear of. Some patients are asked to keep a diary, to look back over the last 24 hours at what they ate and maybe a third of those people will pick up a trigger that they had not recognized before. Some foods, however, have a delayed affect resulting in a headache a day later, so keeping a diary is really helpful. For the severe migraine that takes patients to the emergency room, an injection of Imitrex will help within hours. Triptans are probably the first medicines that specifically target migraines.