June marks Migraine Awareness Month

It’s estimated that more than 40 million Americans suffer from chronic headaches or migraines. More than 11 million people suffer moderate to severe disability from them. Dr. Paul Ferguson is a neurologist with the Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine.  He said every patient has a different description of their pain. 

“Some folks will describe them as deep achy sensation type headaches; others say pulsetile like they can feel there heart beating in their head and many folks will get a pain that goes behind their eyes,” Ferguson said.

Also according to migraine.com women suffer from migraines more than men and they more often occur between the ages of 35-55. Ferguson said migraines can be caused by different circumstances. The most common is a genetic predisposition, that is inherited. And he noted diet can cause the onset of a severe migraine.

“There are very common dietary triggers for folks: highly processed meats, hot dogs and lunch meats, those types of things tend to provoke migraines in many people. Cheeses and some wine in other people will provoke migraines,” Ferguson said.

Ferguson said that there are different ways of dealing with migraines, but he cautions against the repeated use of over the counter medicines such as Motrin and Tylenol because after repeated use these medications can cause headaches themselves. Ferguson said he even uses Botox in some cases for those suffering from chronic migraines which resist many medicines and can occur upwards of 15-20 days a month.

“These headaches can be treated effectively with botulinum toxin which is an injection that many may be familiar with in the treatment of cosmetic wrinkles. A small percent of the population that has these recurrent headaches that have been resistant to multiple different medications may find some benefit to seeing a provider that can possibly offer this as an opportunity,” Ferguson said.

June is migraine awareness month and Ferguson noted that it’s important for those that are having recurrent headaches to see a physician who can determine a treatment plan to limit the number and severity of migraines.

“They really need to make an effort to get in to see a provider because there are a lot of things we can do to relieve their symptoms or at least reduce them> When patients come in with headaches occurring more than 3-4 times a month especially if the headaches are functionally limiting, often times we’ll consider putting them on prophylactic medication. These are our preventative therapies,” Ferguson said.

Ferguson said the best way to treat migraines is to prevent them from happening in the first place.