Migraine during Pregnancy: How to Manage Attacks?

How to calm a migraine during pregnancy? This is a question many expectant mothers ask themselves during their pregnancy. Whether the migraine appears in the first trimester, at 4 months, or during the 3rd trimester, whether it’s an ocular migraine or a migraine without aura, these throbbing headaches are unwelcome. So, how can you get rid of them as quickly as possible? Instead of enduring your headache patiently, here’s how to relieve a migraine during pregnancy.

Migraine and Pregnancy: What Natural Treatment?

At the first signs of migraine (pulsating pain in the head, sensitivity to light and sound, nausea, vomiting, or visual disturbances for cases of ocular migraines…), try to isolate yourself as quickly as possible in darkness, in a quiet and cool environment. Light, noise, and heat can exacerbate the migraine, amplifying the headaches.

It’s often recommended to drink coffee for its vasoconstrictive effect, but during pregnancy, it’s better to limit caffeine consumption.

Good news: this vasoconstrictive effect can be achieved differently. Through a natural and powerful solution to relieve migraines, headaches, and tension headaches: cold.

4 good reasons to apply cold to relieve a migraine during pregnancy:

> Cold is analgesic: it immediately calms the nerves, cold is a natural pain reliever.
> Cold is anti-inflammatory: it calms inflammations responsible for your migraines.
> Cold is vasoconstrictor: it energizes blood circulation.
> Cold facilitates falling asleep: it sends a sleep signal to the brain so that you can quickly fall asleep, as sleep is an ally in naturally relieving migraines. In fact, to fall asleep, the brain temperature must decrease by 1°C. By applying cold to the head, not only do we relieve pain but we also promote falling asleep and sleep.

That’s why it’s recommended to apply a damp cloth or an ice pack on the forehead.
However, there’s a real problem with these solutions.

Migraine is much more than just a bad headache: so, it requires appropriate cooling.

Very quickly, your body heat will warm the cloth or the ice pack. The respite will therefore be (too) short-lived.
Moreover, the ice pack will only target a partial area of your skull.
And then holding an ice pack is quite cumbersome!
Finally, you will be wet and you will have to get up to dry yourself.
Who wants that during a migraine attack?

Migraines are truly unbearable and make you want to bang your head against the walls. Throbbing pain, hammer blows, urge to scream… and no way to take medication to relieve a migraine during pregnancy!

Fortunately, there’s a much more practical solution to avoid suffering.

The cooling cap is an effective alternative to make the pain bearable until the crisis passes. Thanks to the cold, but not only.

The 4 key strengths of a good cooling cap for migraines:

1. Long-lasting coolness: Pay attention to the capacity of the cooling gel!

2. Material: It must be odorless to avoid worsening the crisis. Also, ensure that its texture is silky for a tactile pleasure that contributes to comfort.

3. Thickness, color, and height: These are the three essentials for blocking out any light sources.

4. Comfort and quality of construction: You don’t want to throw away your cold migraine mask after 2 uses!

Pregnancy Migraines: Identify Trigger Factors

Even if you’ve never had migraines before, you may experience strong headaches during your pregnancy, especially in the first 3 months. The upheavals of the first trimester of pregnancy can be responsible, including:

– Hormonal changes
– Stress and fatigue
– Possible dehydration due to nausea and vomiting.

Don’t hesitate to consult your doctor to ensure that these headaches don’t have another cause.

Here are also a few questions to ask yourself to better understand the triggers of these migraines:

• Do you hydrate regularly?
• Are you getting enough sleep?
• Do you have the opportunity to take rest periods during the day?
• Do you feel stressed?
• Do you practice relaxation exercises (prenatal yoga or gentle gymnastics) or breathing exercises (heart coherence)?

If you answered yes to all of these questions, you’re already doing a lot to reduce headaches.
But this may not be enough. There are many triggers for migraines, such as certain foods, and the environment can also play a role (bright lights, loud noises, heat…). It may be helpful to keep a journal of migraine attacks to identify common triggers and avoid them better.

To experience your pregnancy as serenely as possible, feel free to consult the articles below:

Pregnancy and heavy legs: what solution at night?
Ligament pains and Lacomme syndrome during pregnancy