MANAGEMENT OF MIGRAINES

The following are some key points from the Mayo Clinic:

 For acute headaches, try the following:

• Turn off the lights.
• Temperature therapy with cool compresses to the head and warm compresses to the neck and shoulders to relax the muscles.
• Try caffeine. This may help for an acute migraine, but regular caffeine can play a role in headaches.

 The following is a summary taken from The American Association of Family Physicians:

Key points:

• Use abortive treatment as early as possible (NSAIDS, Triptans)
• First line treatments are NSAIDS (Non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs)
• Advil 400mg to 800 mg
• Asprin 325mg to 975 mg 
• Cambia (prescription)
• Tylenol 325 mg to 1000 mg
• Combination pills which include Caffeine
• For moderate to severe headaches consider prescription “Triptans” such as almotriptan, eletriptan, frovatriptan, naratriptan, rizatriptan, sumatriptan and zolmitriptan
•  Avoid if you have vascular disease, uncontrolled hypertension, or    hemiplegic migraine. 
• Side effects include hypertension, chest pain, malaise, fatigue and rebound headaches if used excessively.
• Some people have noted benefit with a device called Cefaly.