Migraine is not just a bad headache; they’re a neurological condition that millions of people suffer from worldwide. People suffering from migraine often experience severe pain, sensitivity to light and sound, nausea, and vision disturbances. This disorder often interferes with people’s work, school, and everyday life. These attacks are usually unpredictable and can last for hours or days, making it difficult to function normally. There are medications and lifestyle changes that can help individuals, but they don’t always provide relief. Hopefully, there are modern techniques such as Loreta Neurofeedback that have promising alternatives for those who suffer from chronic migraine. These new techniques offer hope for people looking to get relief from migraine attacks.
What is a Migraine?
Migraine is a neurological condition where the person experiences symptoms beyond a typical headache that normal people often experience. A regular headache causes mild to moderate pain, while it is usually more intense, and that can be described as a pulsing sensation that often affects one side of the head. These attacks can last hours to even several days. Besides the pain, there are symptoms like nausea, vomiting, and extreme sensitivity to sound, light, and even smell.
The problem with this disorder is that it’s not usually a single episode, and it often recurs. But the frequency of these episodes varies in people. Some may experience an attack once in a while, but others may suffer from attacks frequently that start to impact different aspects of their life, for example, their daily routines, sleep quality, school, and professional performances. The attacks can be so intense that they make it impossible to even go to school or work. Researches find that during migraine, the brain’s electrical and chemical activity, including in areas controlling pain and sensory perception, changes that lead to abnormal signaling in those areas. This explains why this disorder is so overwhelming, and it affects other body parts rather than just the head.
Types of Migraine
Not everyone experiences attacks the same way. While all of them have a severe headache, the way the attack appears differs from person to person. There are different types based on the symptoms, frequency, and the presence or absence of warning signs called auras. It’s critical to understand and get knowledge about different types so that individuals can recognize their symptoms more clearly and find the most effective treatment.
Here are the types described below:
Migraine without aura
This is the most common type. It includes moderate to severe pulsing pain on one side of the head, lasting from 4 to 72 hours. Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, and high sensitivity to light and sound. In this type, there are no warning signs before the attack begins.
Migraine with aura
In this type, the individual experiences temporary neurological symptoms, called auras, before or during the headache. The auras include vision changes like flashing lights, zigzag lines, or blind spots; trouble speaking, tingling in the face or hands, or difficulty concentrating. These auras often develop over 5 to 20 minutes and last less than an hour.
Chronic migraine
People are diagnosed with this type when they experience headaches for at least 15 days per month, with at least 8 of those days being migraines. This type is particularly challenging and disabling, making it hard to maintain a normal life routine.
Hemiplegic migraine
This type is rare compared to others, but it is a serious one. This type can mimic the symptoms of a stroke. The symptoms include temporary weakness or paralysis on one side of the body, visual changes, dizziness, and difficulty speaking. The symptoms can be frightening, but they resolve completely; however, it’s important to rule out other serious conditions.
Vestibular migraine
In this type, balance is affected primarily and can cause vertigo or a spinning sensation, dizziness, and challenges with coordination. Head pain may or may not be present. People with this type usually feel unsteady or motion-sensitive, making everyday activities such as driving or walking so challenging for them.
Silent (Acephalgic) migraine
In some people, while they don’t experience headache, other symptoms such as nausea, aura, or sensitivity to light and sound are present. Even without the headache, this type is still so disruptive and confusing.
Causes and Risk Factors
While we don’t know the exact cause, researchers found that this disorder is a neurological condition that is influenced by both genetics and environmental triggers. It occurs when brain activity changes affect nerve signaling, blood vessels, and the release of chemicals like serotonin, which plays a role in regulating pain. These changes make the brain more sensitive to normal stimuli. That is why light, sound, or stress can easily trigger an attack.
Here are the factors in detail:
- Genetic factors: Family research shows that if one parent has a history of migraines, there is a 50% chance that a child will develop them. If both parents have a history of migraines, this chance will increase even higher. Researchers believe that there must be some gene variations affecting how the brain processes pain, making some people more vulnerable.
- Brain chemistry and neurological changes: during the attacks, levels of brain chemicals, including serotonin, fluctuate, affecting the pain pathways and triggering inflammation around blood vessels in the brain, which causes pulsing head pain in these people.
- Hormonal factors: Hormones also have a great influence, especially in women. Fluctuations in estrogen levels can trigger attacks. Many women experience attacks during menstruation, pregnancy, or menopause.
- Environmental factors: external factors such as emotional stress, foods (such as processed meats, alcohol, and caffeine), lack of sleep, oversleeping, and sensory stimuli (such as bright lights, strong odors, and loud sounds) can trigger attacks.
Besides the factors above, age, gender, and health condition can affect the chance of this disorder. They begin in adolescence or young adulthood. They are more common in women, and disorders such as anxiety, depression, or epilepsy trigger it even more.
Signs and symptoms
Migraine usually has stages, each stage with different symptoms. Not all people experience all the stages or all the symptoms necessarily, but you need to know the phases and symptoms so you can recognize early warning signs and take action sooner.
Early warning phase
Usually, before the attack itself, there are a couple of symptoms that begin hours or even days before the attack. These signals help you understand that an attack is on the way. The symptoms in this stage include:
- Mood changes: irritability, sadness, or euphoria (unusual feeling of happiness or energy all of a sudden)
- Loss of appetite, or food cravings
- Muscle or neck tension
- Increased thirst or urination
- Fatigue
- Concentration problems
Aura
Auras, which are neurological symptoms, can be seen in one-third of people with this disorder. These symptoms usually last less than an hour and develop slowly. Symptoms include:
- Seeing flashing lights, zigzag lines, or blind spots
- Feeling tingling in the face, lips, or hands
- Having trouble speaking or finding words
- Temporary weakness
- Temporary numbness
Attack
In this stage, the headache starts and can last from 4 to 72 hours if you don’t treat it. Symptoms include:
- Severe, pulsing pain, often on one side
- Sensitivity to light, sound, and sometimes smell or touch
- Nausea and vomiting
- Dizziness and blurred vision
Recovery phase
This stage happens after the headache subsides. Many people experience recovery stage symptoms for up to a day. These symptoms are:
- Fatigue
- Brain for or difficulty focusing
- Mood changes, such as feeling drained or unusually uplifted
- Mild head pain when you move it suddenly
Migran diagnosis
As for every disorder, a true diagnosis is an important key to finding the most proper treatment plan. Doctors rely on a detailed evaluation of symptoms, medical history, and sometimes additional tests to rule out other possible causes and diagnose people with migraine.
Step 1: symptom history
The doctor will ask about the headache patterns, how often the headaches occur, how long they last, what symptoms the person is experiencing besides the headache, and whether the person notices some specific triggers, such as certain foods, stress, or lack of sleep.
Step 2: Physical and neurological exams
Next, doctors perform physical and neurological exams to check reflexes, vision, balance, and coordination to rule out other conditions.
Step 3: ruling out other conditions
As its symptoms can be similar to other serious conditions like stroke or brain tumors, doctors use imaging tests as an MRI or CT scan, and blood tests to check for the unusual abnormalities and changes in symptoms, and to make sure there is not other health problem causing the headaches.
Step 4: making the diagnosis
At the end, doctors use the criteria from the International Classification of Headache Disorders (ICHD). This includes having at least 5 attacks that last 4-72 hours, with at least 2 symptoms of the following:
- Pain on one side of the head
- Pulsing pain
- Moderate to severe pain intensity
- Pain made worse by routine physical activity
And at least one of these signs below during the attack:
- Nausea and/or vomiting
- Sensitivity to light and sound
With a correct diagnosis, it’s easier to guide the right treatment plan. There are traditional treatments such as medication, and newer approaches like Loreta neurofeedback.
Traditional Treatments
There must be a combination of strategies for managing this disorder because no single treatment works for everyone. Traditional treatments include medications, lifestyle changes, and therapies. Each helps with some aspects of attacks. For example, medications help to relieve or prevent the attacks, therapies help people to manage their symptoms, and lastly lifestyle changes help to reduce triggers.
Medications
The first step in treating attacks is medication. Two main categories of medication are listed below:
Acute (abortive) medications
These types of medications are taken during the attack to stop symptoms and pain and prevent them from getting worse. These medications include:
- Triptans: these medications are the most widely used drugs for moderate to severe attacks. It helps the individuals by simulating serotonin receptors and constricting blood vessels. Sumatriptan, rizatriptan, and zolmitriptan are examples of triptans,
- Pain relievers: Medicines such as acetaminophen, aspirin, or ibuprofen can help individuals with mild to moderate attacks by reducing pain and inflammation.
- Anti-nausea drugs: To reduce the nausea and vomiting that individuals experience during the attacks, medications like meroclopramide or prochlorperazine can be used to reduce these symptoms.
Preventive medications
These medications are used to reduce the frequency and severity of the attacks, especially for those with frequent and disabling attacks. These medicines should be taken daily or on a regular schedule.
- Beta-blockers: Medicines like propranolol and metoprolol help individuals by calming overactive blood vessels. Beta-blockers are the most common prescribed preventive medications.
- Antidepressants: tricyclic antidepressants such as amitriptyline or certain SNRIs like venlafaxine regulate brain chemicals linked to pain and help to reduce it.
- Anti-seizure medications: medicines like topiramate are used for attacks because they help stabilize brain activity and reduce the frequency of attacks.
- CGRP inhibitors (Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide): these are the newest class of drugs in migraine prevention. They specifically targeted pathways related to this disorder.
Non-Medication Therapies
Besides medications, different therapy types are used to manage migraine symptoms as well. therapies focus on people’s lifestyles and behavioral techniques. These therapy approaches include:
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): Helps people manage their stress and change their negative thoughts into more positive patterns to reduce the triggers causing the migraine attack.
- Biofeedback: In this approach, sensors are used to help individuals monitor their own body functions, like muscle tension, to help them improve their stress control.
- Relaxation training: Techniques such as deep breathing and muscle relaxation are taught to patients in this approach so that they can reduce tension.
- Acupuncture and massage therapy: These approaches help to improve relaxation, decrease muscle tension, and reduce triggers for patients.
Loreta Neurofeedback: a modern technique
As it’s said earlier, traditional treatments don’t work for everyone, because it has lots of symptoms and stages. So there have to be better and newer techniques to help patients find their relief they were looking for. One of the most promising techniques are Loreta neurofeedback. It focuses on brain-based activities.
What is Loreta Neurofeedback?
Loreta Neurofeedback (Low Resolution Electromagnetic Tomography Neurofeedback) is a specialized form of brain training. It creates a 3D image of brain activity. This ability allows therapists to see which brain areas are active and how these areas are communicating with each other when a person does a specific task. It focuses on specific neural pathways linked to attention, learning, emotion, or movement, so it can offer an individualized way of training the brain.
How it works:
- Brain Mapping (qEEG): First, electrodes are placed on the scalp, and brainwave activities are recorded.
- Analysis: The data is turned into a 3D model of how different regions are functioning to identify networks responsible for attention, memory, emotional regulation, and sensory processing.
- Training Sessions: Once the assessment is complete, the therapist designs a personalized training protocol. In these sessions, the individual watches a video or plays a game in which, if the brain activity gets better and towards the desired pattern, the video or the game gives positive feedback like getting clearer or smoother, and if the brain activity has an inefficient pattern, the feedback stops or slows down.
Over repeated sessions, the brain learns to operate more efficiently or “rewire” itself and reduce problematic activity.
Benefits and Limitations
- Non-invasive
- Drug-free
- Personalized to each person’s brain activity
- Helping the brain regulate itself effectively rather than just treating symptoms.
- Improved quality of life by reducing sensitivity to triggers, fewer attacks, better sleep, and improved focus.
What research shows?
Studies show that Loreta neurofeedback can significantly reduce the frequency and severity of migraine. Patients who completed a course of neurofeedback reported significantly they had fewer attacks per month, with reduced severity.
A typical Loreta Neurofeedback program includes:
- Setup: placing a cap with sensors on the head, which only measures brain activity, and not delivering any electrical stimulation.
- Brain Mapping: Detailed qEEG scan to read brain activity and prepare the training protocol.
- Training Plan: making a personalized protocol for specific brain areas based on the patient’s brain map.
- Sessions: The Program usually involves 20 to 40 sessions, based on the severity of symptoms and treatment goals.
Conclusion
A migraine is far more than a normal headache. It’s a neurological problem that deeply affect work, school, family, and daily life. While there are traditional treatments such as medication and different therapies that help people reduce their symptoms but they can’t fully prevent attacks. This is why we should focus more on new promising techniques like Loreta neurofeedback. This technique retrains the brain’s activity, improving brain pathways of pain and stress. It offers a non-invasive, safe, and personalized treatment for people who struggles with migraine attacks. By growing treatment techniques, individuals finally can find long-term relief and regain control of their daily lives. follow our twitter page at: