What is a migraine? Is it just a headache?
Migraine can be a debilitating condition with symptoms which can be really distressing and not limited to the ‘headache’ people typically think of. I have seen presentations of migraine including:
What is the impact of the condition?
What we offer at The Bespoke Clinic
Migraine is approached holistically here at The Bespoke Clinic. After a detailed history, which may be longer than you are used to, we will work out if any further investigations are needed. This will be to rule out any causes for the migraine, also known as secondary migraine. We might also agree that some other tests are required to see if your body is deficient in anything which may be causing an issue.
We have an armoury of options to give you, personalised to you, to work out what combination of treatment modalities could help. These include:
- Assessment and management of triggers – we will support you to identify clearly if there are any triggers and work on practical ways to handle those. Sometimes certain foods can be a problem and we can work with our nutritionist to see what can be done.
- Lifestyle measures – here at The Bespoke Clinic we will evaluate and advise on (in no particular order!) :
Sleep – Diet – Exercise – Yoga – Mindfulness – Hydration - Oral medication – this can absolutely have a role in both treating and preventing the migraines
- Botox – in chronic migraine patients, who fulfil the specified criteria, we can also consider Medical use Botox. Here at The Bespoke Clinic, we are licensed to offer this treatment and meet the necessary criteria for Botox to be used in this way. I cannot emphasise enough, the need to check that your clinician is properly registered for these sorts of treatments.
- Supplement advice – there is so much evidence now for certain high-quality supplements helping to reduce the frequency and intensity of migraines, and I believe this is a game changer. We should always be looking for ways to reduce our medication intake and studies have shown that some supplements can help patients come off some of their routine medications for migraine. Of course, this may not work for everyone, but it is an easy and safe option to try.