Throughout medical history, migraines have become more frequent in people of all ages, races, and sizes. Technically defined, a migraine is, “… a neurological condition that research has shown is associated with a series of complex changes that occur within the brain and brainstem” (Fontebasso). Although migraines do not occur every day, they impact the whole brain and can have a major effect on a person’s wellbeing. Within the medical field, medicine and treatments are constantly advancing as they are continually created, corrected, and reevaluated. For people seeking treatment for migraines, including children, nonpharmacological treatment methods are the best route. With that being said, medicine should be used as a last resort if nonpharmacological treatment methods fail. In modern medicine, migraines have become more prevalent in people of all ages, specifically in adolescents. As statistics show, the nonpharmacological treatment of migraines is on the rise and is becoming more prominent with treatments of migraines in children.

Even though migraines do not occur every day, they can cause major adverse side effects on a person’s whole body that last for days, not just hours. As statistics claim, “While most sufferers experience attacks once or twice a month, more than 4 million adults experience chronic daily migraine – with at least 15 migraine days per month” (“Migraine Facts”).  Chronic migraine sufferers are familiar with symptoms of a migraine, which can be sudden, or prolonged. Migraine patients experience symptoms that include, but are not limited to: pain on one side of their head or both, vision problems, nausea, loss of appetite, and commonly a sensitivity to light (Lava). Symptoms can transpire for hours or days depending on the person and the duration of the migraine. For suffers of migraines, it is crucial that they identify ways to eliminate symptoms and migraines as a whole. To obtain that goal, treatment is needed, whether it be medicinal or not.

Treatment methods, such as physical therapy, and more consistent sleeping and eating patterns are the quickest and most sufficient ways to treat migraines. When thinking of different ways to treat a medical issue, most people’s first instinct is medication. Typical medicinal treatment methods include over the counter NSAIDs, such as Ibuprofen and Aleve, or a prescribed triptan. Yet, many other treatment methods exist. Other than medication, people can utilize treatment methods that are nonpharmacological, those that do not require the use of medication. Some examples of these treatment methods include: aromatherapy, physical therapy, acupuncture, biofeedback, and daith piercing, along with more consistent eating, sleeping, and exercise habits. These aforementioned techniques are used among adults and children alike who experience severe migraines repeatedly throughout the month. The rise in nonpharmacological treatment methods in children is due not to the fact parents do not want to rely on only giving their children medication, but rather experimenting with alternative ways to help solve this major problem.

When researching migraine treatment options, many of the nonpharmacological treatment methods offered to patients are proven to work. Yet, as always, they depend on the patient, considering everyone is genetically different. For first time migraine patients, one of the most common treatment method symptoms is an adequate amount of sleep, a consistent exercise routine, and lastly, a diet that does not include foods that trigger migraines (Brenner). Diet, sleep, and exercise are top priority since they allow one’s body to fight off illnesses. After providing ones body with sufficient amounts of sleep, exercise, and healthy foods, he can begin to experiment with varied treatment methods. A popular treatment method among migraine patients is acupuncture. Acupuncture, a Chinese medical treatment that can help to alleviate countless numbers of issues, is where a specialist inserts needles into certain points on your body along ones back and neck, to ease pain and tension (“Alternative Migraine and Headache Treatments”). In migraine patients, acupuncture has led to significant improvements of their symptoms, especially relieving pain because of the needles hitting certain muscles and nerves. In an acupuncture study completed by the Canadian Medical Association Journal, the author states, “Three months after treatment, people who received traditional Chinese acupuncture continued to report a reduction in migraine days, frequency, and intensity” (Collins). After just one acupuncture treatment, results were already starting to emerge. Overall, although not intended for children, acupuncture is a great beginning treatment for adults, and possibly adolescent patients, suffering from migraines.

Besides acupuncture, physical therapy is also an option. In migraine patients, physical therapy is used to correct posture, to stretch muscles and joints, and to improve blood flow throughout the body. Like physical therapy, yoga and chiropractic care could also be used to stretch and relax muscles in ones back and neck. Additionally, a patient can use the treatment of biofeedback. Biofeedback, an electrical impulse test that looks at muscle tension, temperature, and brainwaves in your body, and then provides patients results on how their blood flows through their brain during a migraine attack versus during a normal day. Ultimately, this will advise the patient on how to help relieve pain and increase blood flow (“Alternative Migraine and Headache Treatments”). Lastly, as a more recent treatment option, a daith piercing in your ear is proven to cause migraine relief. With this treatment method, a person gets a certain part of their inner ear pierced. Such treatment is known to reduce pain in some patients. Yet, since this option is very recent, the information and statistics on it are very limited. Daith piercings should only be used on children over the age of thirteen due to the pain and location of the piercing. Overall, migraine patients have many nonpharmacological options to choose from when attempting to treat their migraines.

Furthermore, another type of proven treatment, is physical therapy with a touch of thermal biofeedback mixed in. This treatment is valuable to adult migraine patients because, “Muscular tightness and tenderness are reported in about 70% of chronic migraine or tension-type headache sufferers” (Marcus). Physical therapy is used to relieve muscle tightness and better the posture and motion of migraine patients. Along with the treatment of physical therapy, the use of chiropractic care and relaxation is recommended. The same goes for children and adolescents. Children and teens can use physical therapy and yoga as relaxation methods. However, it is recommended to avoid the biofeedback since the children are so young. As proven in a study done by Marcus, it was reported that relaxation and thermal biofeedback combined were more beneficial to the participants than physical therapy alone (Marcus). People should not rely on one nonpharmacological treatment method, but rather use multiple in combination with another. If used together, one will be able to see decreases in pain and migraine symptoms and migraines themselves.

Lastly, with technological innovations, scientists, researchers, and doctors have invented an electronic headband as another option for the nonmedicinal treatment of migraines. This treatment is recommended for adults and adolescents, over the age of thirteen, with a parental consent due to the intensity of this treatment. This idea was brought about ten years ago when Robert Fischell proposed the idea of redesigning a migraine treatment device at a TEDTalk Conference. Fischell, known for his medical inventions including a pacemaker that has a longer battery life, suggested the idea for a more efficient, portable migraine treater that uses a magnetic depolarizer to decrease the amount of aura brain waves experienced during a migraine and to lessen the pain (Fischell). Due to the fact this design was initiated over ten years ago, a new invention has since been placed on the market. This innovation is known as the Cefaly headband. The headband sends electrical signals and volts through the skin to the brain and to the trigeminal nerve (Hensley). During this study, over half of the participants had decreased headache days compared to the subjects who received the placebo headband. With this headband, the number of symptoms and headache days have been decreasing, and with the continued use and innovation to these headbands, the results will only continue to improve.

Over the years, migraines have been affecting thousands of people of all different ages all over the world. However, in most recent times, there has been a rise of migraines present in children under the age of ten, with The Migraine Research Foundation stating that almost ten percent of school-age children suffer from migraines (“Migraine Facts”). Migraines are most commonly known to be caused by genetics and/or stress. With about ninety percent of migraine sufferers having a family history, research proves such facts by stating, “A child who has one parent with migraine has a 50% chance of inheriting it, and if both parents have migraine, the chances rise to 75%” (“Migraine Facts”). Since genetics play a large role in the illness of migraines, it is much harder to find a solution that works for everyone. With that being said, there are various treatment methods and solutions available. As mentioned before, nonpharmacological treatment methods are on the rise and are becoming more prominent in the treatment of migraines in children. 

When considering which treatment method is best for migraines in children, one must take extra precaution and consideration. Children who experience migraines are more at risk than adults. Nonetheless, children fear they are missing out on experiencing all the ordinary childhood activities because of experiencing migraines multiple times during the month. Epositio tells of a girl who encounters migraines quite often in her life. The girl is prevented from attending school activities and summer camps due to the fear of experiencing migraines. She just wants to be a part of normal childhood events but is taken back as a result of this illness (Esposito). Migraines effect children’s and adult’s lives day in and day out and treating migraines is the first battle to win.

In young children, nonpharmacological treatments are steadily gaining popularity. The treatment of sleep, exercise, and a healthy diet should be a first thought. With these lifestyle changes, it could potentially lead to a solution for migraines in children. With that as a first step in children, researchers and doctors have seen a direct correlation between diet/exercise/sleeping habits and the number of migraines children experience. A correlation between the two is evident because children and parents are recommended to keep headache journals so the patients and doctors can notice migraine triggers, including food (“Non-Drug Treatments”). With headache journals, others can see what sparks an individual’s migraines and how it differs from person to person. Some of the most common triggers include, “…stress, irregular or inappropriate meals, high intake of coffee and other caffeine-containing drinks, dehydration, sleep disorders, too much or too little sleep, reduced or inappropriate physical exercise” (Bendtsen). The most common triggers are seen in people of all ages, specifically children. However, altering diet, exercise, and sleeping habits is what is best as used as a first step in treating migraine in children.

The daily provisions of food intake and exercise is the best place to start narrowing down migraine triggers in children and adolescents. Brenner writes, “About 7% to 44% of patients will report that a particular food or drink can precipitate a migraine attack. In children, the principal dietary triggers are cheese, chocolate and citrus fruits” (Brenner). A stabilized diet of healthy foods such as fruits, vegetables, carbohydrates, and proteins is the most valuable way to help prevent migraines diet wise. Along with dairy and citrus that are the most common food triggers for migraines in children, caffeine is a known cause for anyone, despite age. Caffeine interferes with brain signals and can trigger migraines in people of all ages, especially children. Along with caffeine, disregarding a whole food group is not recommended (Brenner). Likewise, exercise on a regular basis is essential to maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Any form of physical exercise is recommended to children and adolescents to lessen migraine symptoms and migraines in general. Children, in particular, need to get at least thirty minutes of exercise a day along with an abundant source of nutrients. Without that, “An increase in BMI (body mass index) may result in an increase in the frequency of migraines” (“Non-Drug Treatments”). Parents and adolescents need to be aware of what they are consuming and make note of any side effects after consuming certain foods. However, you must take extra precaution while treating children for such a widespread illness.

Other than the beginning treatments of more routine eating, sleeping, and exercise habits, it is proven that children also respond positively to bio-behavioral strategies. These strategies include: physical therapy, relaxation methods, and biofeedback (Brenner). Physical therapy and different relaxation methods are used as the same purpose as for adults, to relax oneself and stretch out muscles and increase blood flow. Biofeedback is directly related to muscle movement and that it senses when muscle tension and movement occurs (Bendtsen). These methods are beneficial for children just as it is for adults. However, this should not be the only treatment option used for children. The best result is a combination of different nonpharmacological treatment methods.

In opposition to nonpharmacological fixes, some patients believe that medication is the wonder to fix all problems. When people exhibit migraine symptoms, majority of them take over the counter NSAIDs, including Advil and Aleve, and if it more severe, the patient will be prescribed some form of triptan. With medication, the doctor and/or pharmacists must specifically direct the patient on its use and when to take it. Through research and studies, “Acetaminophen and ibuprofen appear to be safe and well tolerated in children and adolescents” (Wöber-Bingöl). Acetaminophen and ibuprofen have high rates of use because they are safe to use in people of all ages. Overall, medication is a possible way to treat migraines, but it should not be the only treatment people suffering with migraines should use.

In conclusion, migraines affect thousands of people around the world, including children. There are numerous ways to treat migraines, but nonpharmacological methods are proven most effective in the treatment of migraines in patients of all ages. Some nonpharmacological methods include biofeedback, physical therapy, innovative headbands, and a steady diet, sleep, and exercise routine. Although the use of medicine should not be completely ignored, it should not be a person’s go to when treating migraine. Instead, one should seek options that do not use medication first and then if that does not succeed, one may then turn to medicine. Overall, statistics show that migraines can affect anyone and that nonpharmacological treatment methods are proven best when seeking treatment.
