| A migraine attack is far more than just a bad | | | | bone-white fingers! |
| headache! A severe headache, lasting from 4 - 72 | | | | This is my image of the weekend migraine. During |
| hours, is just one of the horrible symptoms of | | | | the busy working week, we are dealing with a |
| migraine. Suffers also experience a range of | | | | heavy workload and may not be able to stop |
| accompanying symptoms, such as feeling sick, | | | | when we'd like to. Without realising it, our whole |
| even vomiting in some cases, visual disturbances | | | | body is getting increasingly tense, with our neck |
| or extreme sensitivity to lights, smells or sounds. | | | | and shoulders the tightest place of all. When the |
| A migraine attack can leave the person | | | | weekend comes and we can at last let go and |
| exhausted afterwards, sometimes for a few | | | | relax - relief! But then the pain as the blood supply |
| days. | | | | returns to the cranium (the part of the skull |
| There are different triggers for the onset of | | | | around the brain)! |
| migraine symptoms. For some people it's a | | | | For immediate relief from the symptoms, many |
| particular food or drink, such as cheese or red | | | | people take an over-the-counter product from |
| wine. For others there's a pattern of monthly or | | | | their local pharmacy, such as paracetamol and |
| weekly migraines. Many people link their migraines | | | | codeine. Others need a prescription from their GP |
| to stress. A fairly common pattern, and one that | | | | and it's a good idea to have a medical check-up if |
| I experienced myself, is the weekend migraine. | | | | your symptoms are severe or persistent. |
| This is where the migraine happens at the | | | | In order to treat the underlying cause of the |
| weekend, or on a day off work or at the start | | | | condition, many people now use holistic |
| of a holiday. | | | | treatments. The treatment that I recommend is |
| Imagine carrying heavy shopping bags in both | | | | the one that worked for me! It's called |
| hands, after a long day's shopping. You've just left | | | | craniosacral therapy and it's bliss! The practitioner |
| your local Marks and Spencer and the car is | | | | uses gentle hands-on contact at your head and |
| parked way off in the local multi-story. By the | | | | neck, while you are lying down in your |
| time you're half way to the car park, the bag | | | | comfortable clothes and nothing else to do but |
| handles are digging painfully into your fingers, but | | | | relax. You might dose off, or you might want to |
| you can't put the bags down now because the | | | | chat during your treatment. Whatever you do |
| ground is wet. So you speed up to get back to | | | | you will feel wonderfully relaxed and refreshed |
| the car as quickly as possible. Your fingers are | | | | afterwards. |
| numb by now. When you finally find the car, at | | | | Give it a try. You might even begin to enjoy |
| last you can let go of the heavy bags - relief! But | | | | pain-free, energy-filled weekends again! |
| then the pain, as the blood returns to your | | | | |