This annual campaign is organised and promoted by the Migraine Trust. It aims to draw attention to migraine, educate the public and reduce stigma.
It is estimated that there are 190,000 migraine attacks experienced every day in England. 6 Million people suffer from migraine in the UK, affecting one in every five women and one in every 15 men.
The NHS explains that: “A migraine is usually a moderate or severe headache felt as a throbbing pain on one side of the head. Many people also have symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and increased sensitivity to light or sound.”
Symptoms vary between individuals and usually last from four to 72 hours.
There are several types of migraine, including:
- Migraine with aura – where there are specific warning signs just before the migraine begins, such as seeing flashing lights,
- Migraine without aura – the most common type, where the migraine occurs without the specific warning signs,
- Migraine aura without headache, also known as silent migraine – where an aura or other migraine symptoms are experienced, but a headache doesn’t develop.
Migraine attacks can affect people several times each week, or it may be years between migraines.
You can find further details about migraines by reading our Headaches page.
Do you suffer from migraines?
Osteopathic treatment can help you. The team at Shefford Osteopathic Clinic is experienced in helping people who suffer with migraines. Here’s how osteopathy can help you…
“As Osteopaths, we understand how horrible migraine can be and how much it effects your life. It is something we see a lot in our clinic, as nearly 1 in 7 people are affected by migraine. Unfortunately, with very few outward signs it is very difficult for people to know just how debilitating it can be! If you sprained your ankle people can see you are in pain and are often more helpful or empathetic.
”Osteopaths are trained extensively to examine, treat and help people manage migraines. We do this by first listening to your story and trying to identify your migraine pattern as well as common triggers such as food and diet, hydration, caffeine as well as sleep and stress. Posture and movement patterns are common triggers for migraine with muscle tension and strains playing a large role either as a cause or as a result of the pain.
“Osteopathic treatment has been shown to be effective for prevention and treatment both in research and within the clinic and I’m sure many of our patients would agree!
“A typical treatment involves gentle hands on techniques to the muscles and joints of the neck upper back and head to resolve muscle stress and restore normal movement we will also focus on strategies you can use to try and limit the amount of time you lose to migraines. This could be simple advice on posture and sleeping position or some exercises you can do to prevent migraines.
“Having suffered with migraines myself it is an area I am particularly interested in and one of the Osteopathic special interest groups I am involved in. I would suggest if you regularly suffer headaches and migraine see an osteopath and find out if osteopathy can help you.”
This summary was produced by Andrew MacMillan, a registered Osteopath who was part of the Shefford Osteopathic Clinic team.