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Does nasal spray help against migraine? Millions of people are regularly tormented by migraines. New therapies give hope. This helps.
Half of the head seems to burst, the other feels like cotton wool, every sound is like a drumbeat, every ray of light shining like a knife in the temple: every day in Germany around 350, 000 migraine attacks occur. The unilaterally pulsating, oppressive headache affects 18 million people in Germany - some almost daily, others once a month, sometimes violently, accompanied by nausea and vomiting, some reasonably bearable. Migraine is a chronic disease . And it has consequences: it wears down, it can destroy the joy of life. After all, a lot has happened in research and treatment.
That happens in the brain
Scientists explore the deeper causes. Better and better imaging techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging show more and more clearly what happens before and during an attack in the brain. A particular area in the brain stem is very active and hypersensitive to external or external stimuli. Then this area fires impulses. They release certain substances in the brain, often in the outer layers. And then they have nothing better to do than to ignite brain veins and also to expand them significantly: that hurts a lot.
There are many triggers
Doctors today know that migraine patients are unusually alert, sensitive and capable people . Her brain - and probably the brainstem - works very fast, is always under high voltage, perceives stimuli from the outside very clearly. Similar triggers and symptoms are seen with cluster headache.
With them, many things can trigger the chain reaction: stress, changes in the rhythm of life (eg weekend), too little or too much sleep, weather changes, hormone fluctuations, hunger, low blood sugar, often foods such as cheese, bananas, chocolate, herring, even alcohol, mostly red wine ... The goal of modern therapy: to find and avoid triggers, reduce the number of seizures and effectively treat the attacks. There are many good helps today.
This helps against migraines
Lighter attacks? The best self-help
If the migraine attacks are rather easy, you can often treat them well with over-the-counter painkillers . These are mainly aspirin acetaminophen caffeine as a combination, as well as ibuprofen, naratriptan, paracetamol and phenazon . Experts of the pain clinic Kiel advise to take such means in time and sufficiently. For this you should absolutely note the leaflet. To avoid nausea, you should also take an appropriate drug, if possible 15 minutes before the painkiller.
Modern therapies give hope
Nasal Spray In America, the nasal spray has proven to be very effective. The pain-relieving agent passes directly into the blood via the nasal mucous membrane and acts there within a few minutes. So headaches can be alleviated by up to 35%. According to a recent study, volunteers needed 88% less pain medication during therapy. Doctors stress that treatment with nasal spray is only a temporary solution. Nasal spray alone can not be used in the long term.
SPECIALIZED DOCTORS Although there are now effective drugs and methods for migraine - but by no means all patients get the right treatment for them. Experts recommend this route: First, you tell the family doctor exactly his problems. A suspected migraine should lead to the common consideration: Which doctor, which ambulance or clinic is specialized? Often the family doctor already knows addresses. You can also ask the health insurance. Or you search the Internet (see below: "Advice and information"). More and more doctors and therapists are trained in migraine, z. B. with the name "special pain therapy".
COMPETITIVE MEDICAMENTS The simplest method for most sufferers are the so-called triptans. There are seven different active ingredients, as tablets, and sometimes as suppositories or syringes. For very severe and / or long attacks, the doctor may also combine a triptan with another painkiller. In general, however, triptans and normal painkillers apply: do not take more than three days in a row and a maximum of ten days a month.
PREVENTIVE MEDICINAL PRODUCTS To achieve this even in severe cases, other medicines can help by reducing the number of migraine attacks. These "drug prophylaxis" include beta-blockers: they reduce physical reactions to stress. The active substance flunarizine, for example, is particularly effective in preventing attacks associated with aura (eg blurred vision) and / or dizziness. Further funds are z. Antidepressants, butterbur extract, high-dose magnesium, often combined with vitamin B12.
BOTOX The neurotoxin botulinum toxin (Botox) has been approved since September 2011 for the prevention of migraine in Germany. Studies show that especially patients with almost daily attacks benefit from it. The number of migraine days can drop significantly. Botox is injected at precisely defined points into the muscles of the head and neck.
ACUPUNCTURE In the world's largest study on the effectiveness of needle therapy came out: Six weeks of acupuncture reduce migraine at least as good as six months of drug prevention with beta-blockers. Doctor search in Internet: www.daegfa.de
BIOFEEDBACK Here you learn to consciously control unconscious bodily functions such as the tension of the arteries. To do this, therapists use devices that make the heartbeat visible on a monitor. You can learn the process in about ten sessions and then use it at home anytime. Therapist search on the Internet: www.dgbfb.de.
