Migraine Condition Care Guide

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15 First Aid Tips for caring for someone you love with migraines

Recently, I twisted my ankle while out hiking with my grandson.  The tender little guy turned to me and said, “Get over it Grandma.  Walk it off.”  This approach to pain may work for some injuries (helpful for little kids but not a sprained ankle!), but it certainly doesn’t work for migraines!

If you have never been under the vice of migraines, it may be tempting to tell someone suffering from a migraine to, “Walk it off.”  But by learning more about migraines and its debilitating effects, as a caregiver you may help sufferers to find relief.

Here are simple 15 First Ad Tips to be able to help friends and family endure migraine headaches.

1. Be patient and try to understand. The horror of a migraine is not over the top. They really are excruciating.
2. Be committed to breaking the cycle.  Find a long-term solution rather than fix-up the migraine symptoms.  Do the research necessary to find relief!
3. Look for patterns.  If you recognize a consistent madness to someone’s migraines, like corresponding to a certain season, hormonal fluctuations or changes in sleeping patterns, then you can find a solution more easily.  Some migraines are triggered by a change in the barometric pressure, so plan accordingly.
4. Notice the signs: increase energy, feeling elated, craving sweets, becoming irritable.  These are the forewarning symptoms that indicate a migraine might make your loved one sick in a few days. Soon, the lights will dull their vision and a tingling sensation might start.  Watch out!  You might have as little as 15 minutes until a devastating migraine sets in!
5. During a migraine episode, help to keep the focus OFF the migraine.  This means not continually asking how much they hurt or what you can do, etc. but rather distract them from the chronic pain.
6. Create a dark space. Provide a dark quiet room to prevent aggravation from visual stimuli.
7. Remove extraneous noise for a quiet retreat until the pain and nausea go away.
8. If necessary, arrange for alternative childcare.  Trying to keep children quiet and out of a room for the duration of a migraine may require extra help.
9. Make a doctor’s appointment.  If your loved hasn’t sought medical attention, because they don’t recognize the condition or don’t know the options, your role as a caregiver is to make the appointment and consider the options. On the other hand, a lot of people with migraines are suffering much more than they need to, because their physician isn’t doing a good enough job treating them. Find one who can help.
10. Save the liver. Medication can damage the liver. Consider taking something to help the liver process prescriptions (if necessary), such as Milk Thistle.
11. Encourage preventative medicine. Feverfew extract helps loosen the blood vessels that trigger migraines.
12. Change eating habits.  For one, avoid food additives such as MSG. Second, cut out chocolate and caffeine, which often provokes a migraine.  Eat more natural and organic foods.
13. Avoid isolation. With repeated migraines, it is easy for one to fall into depression or a cycle of pain, isolation and anxiety.  Simply be a friend in the time of need and help your loved one avoid becoming isolated.
14. Exercise. Exercise. Exercise.  Regular exercise decreases frequency of migraine headaches, when oxygen is increased with aerobic exercise.
15. See clearly.  Someone who is not having the migraine may have the clarity to see when the situation is going downhill.  Know when to take things to the next level – with medical care, personal care, emotional care or even spiritual care.

Those of us who have been lucky enough to have never had one of these crippling headaches have a hard time getting our heads around the pain and what it is all about.

Learning everything you can about migraines will help you understand what your loved one is going through as well as find ways you can help prevent or minimize future migraines.

Take steps to educate yourself as a caregiver so that you can share that information and first aid tips with other family members and friends. This will work to dispel myths and help you understand the chronic condition your loved one lives and suffers with every day.

By caring about your friend or family who has migraines, you can help restore their life with energy, live more comfortably and function better.