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Migraine Headaches Disability

Migraine Headaches are a fairly common occurrence and millions of people suffer from migraines. In the U.S. alone the number of migraine sufferers is believed to be around 30,000,000.  This means if you suffer from migraine headaches you are not alone in the pain, agony, and destruction that migraine headaches bring in your life.

Unfortunately a large majority of migraine relief seekers possess very little knowledge about migraines and what they really areand how to treat them.

What are Migraine Headaches?

A migraine is a type of painful headache usually accompanied by a number of symptoms. A migraine usually affects one side of the head with one of the most common symptoms being sensitive to light. They typically last anything from a few hours to a few days even. The frequency of migraines may differ with each migraine headaches relief seeker but it can be daily, weekly or infrequently as a few attacks a year.

Migraines headaches can be debilitating, causing migraine sufferers to feel tired and weak long after a migraine has subsided. These headaches adversely affect the quality of life and unfortunately, there is no cure. However, either through the use of conventional treatment and medication or the implementation of alternative therapies, relief from migraine pain is available.

It is possible to treat migraine headaches naturally. If you are tired of taking potentially harmful drugs for your migraine headaches and would you like to discover how to treat migraine headaches naturally and eliminate the pain, be assured that there are many different natural migraine treatments available today that are both safe and effective. Many migraine sufferers have turned to alternative therapies not only to stop the pain but to prevent headaches from reoccurring.

Common Migraine Headaches Symptoms.

Some common symptoms that accompany migraines include nausea, vomiting, vertigo and sensitivity to light and sound as well. If you have frequent attacks then these types of symptoms bring disorder and interruptions to your daily activities.

Types of Headaches.

With headaches can be irritating and unpleasant and pain is inevitable, it actually comes in various forms. It really is important for a person to know the different types of a headache and migraine symptoms so a proper diagnosis can be made and appropriate migraine headache relief treatment be given.

  • Migraine Headaches

Pain typically occurs on the one side of the head. This type of pain can become severe to the point that it can even interfere with a person’s daily quality of life.

  • Cluster Headaches

Pain is severe and sudden. Cluster headaches typically have a shorter lifespan compared to other forms of a headache, it can trigger up to six times a day.

  • Sinus Headaches

Irritation, swelling, and infection of the sinuses can trigger the sinus headache pain. Headaches of this type are sometimes mistaken to be tension and migraine pains.

  • Rebound Migraine Headaches

This type of migraine headache pain can sometimes be caused over-consuming migraine headache medications. Instead of a giving migraine headache relief, pain reliever medications can actually cause migraines if abused.

It’s being said that the epidemic of the 21st century is stress, and not surprising it’s now one of the main causes of migraines today. We live in a world where we are bombarded with information overload, traffic, stress factors, allergies and so on, on a daily basis, all of which can trigger migraines and other illnesses. We need to be aware of what steps we can take to give us a better quality of life.

Risk factors for migraine headaches are:

  • Family history. your family history can also determine whether you will have migraines or not. If you have close blood relatives suffering from migraines, you are likely to have them too.
  • If you are under forty years of age. Most migraines start in people who are in between the ages of 20-39 years of age. This may not necessarily be etched in stone, but if you are prone to migraine headaches, you are more than likely to have your first migraine when you are in your twenties.
  • Women are at high risk for migraines. Men can have them too, but women can undergo extreme hormonal changes that can trigger migraines. Girls in puberty and women in early adulthood are three times more likely to have migraines than men.
  • Hormonal changes can also be a big risk factor. When women are going through their menstruation cycle, hormones can go wild. This can make the conditions right to trigger a migraine headache. Some women can also suffer from migraines during their first trimester of their pregnancy and at the onslaught of menopause.

Testing for migraine headaches can be done by your doctor reviewing your family history. Furthermore, not all headaches are caused by migraines. your doctor may conduct several other tests to rule everything else out. Some of these tests are as follows:

  • Computerized tomography or CT is one of the tests that may be conducted. CT is an imaging procedure that takes a series of X-ray type images of your head, providing physicians with cross sections of your brains. With these images, your doctor can diagnose all kinds of abnormalities such as tumors, infections and other diseases that can cause headaches.
  • Magnetic resonance imaging or MRI can also be employed to diagnose the cause of your headache. An MRI works by emitting radio waves and a very strong magnet to produce highly detailed cross sections of your brain and can diagnose minute abnormalities that can range from mild strokes to hemorrhaging and even tumors.
  • The last option is a spinal tap which is painful. A spinal tap is a puncture of your lumbar and the fluids can then be examined under a microscope. This test is usually conducted if your doctor believes that you might have other diseases such as meningitis, an infection of the cerebrospinal fluid, which is the fluid that protects your brain and spinal cord.

There are a large variety of drugs available to treat migraines but they may not all be effective for all sorts of migraines.

  • Aspirin, ibuprofen, or Advil can be good over-the-counter medications to treat mild migraines, but for moderate to severe migraines, these drugs may not be strong enough.
  • For extremely severe migraines, your doctor may prescribe triptans to be taken at the onslaught of the attack. Other drugs that are good for severe migraines include ergotamine, which is less expensive but not as effective as triptans to treat migraines. Usually, a dose of ergotamine can last for as long as 48 hours.
  • As many migraines are accompanied by nausea or even vomiting, sometimes you may need to take medications to control nausea during a migraine attack. For nausea accompanied by migraines, usually, metoclopramide and prochlorperazine are often prescribed.
  • If the migraine pain is very severe, opiates and narcotics, such as codeine, can be prescribed to abate the pain. The only drawback to opiates and narcotics is that these can be addictive.

There are quite a few ways to help avoid and deal with migraine headache pain:

  • Avoid the things that can cause migraines. Remember above we talked about “triggers”. It’s important to eliminate the trigger that can initiate a migraine in you! If you get a headache every time you eat chocolate, well it is a pretty good bet that chocolate is one of your triggers. you get the idea. Sometimes you need to eliminate certain foods from your diet then slowly reintroduce them to see if they elicit a headache.
  • Exercise! Working out is a great way to relieve stress and tension which are both big causes of migraines.
  • If you already have a headache use ice on your neck and a cold compress on your forehead.
  • Avoid bright light at all cost since this will only irritate a migraine.
  • Massage the base of your neck and temples with deep pressure.
  • With tension or carcinogenic headaches many times a hot shower and rest will help reduce the problem.
  • Especially with carcinogenic headaches always make sure you take a good look at the pillow you use; is it old, worn out, to thick, too thin? All of these pillow issues can contribute to a migraines development.
  • Avoid loud noise since this will only intensify a headache.
  • Evaluate your sleeping habits and conditions. Sleeping positions, especially stomach sleeping, can affect the neck and in turn, cause headaches.
  • Get evaluated by a chiropractor. Chiropractic can help stop the onset or in some cases relieve a migraine itself.

If you are prone to having frequent migraines, you might think about preventive medicine. Preventive medicine can range from changing your diet to prescription drugs.

Acupuncture to Relieve Migrane Headaches

Some migraine sufferers seek alternative treatments to relieve migraine pain. Some have found relief by treating migraine headaches naturally by using the ancient Chinese medicine of acupuncture. Many have found long-term relief from their migraines by working with an acupuncturist who specializes in headaches. These specialists do an individualized assessment of the patient to create a treatment plan to treat migraine headaches naturally. Many migraine sufferers who chose this type of alternative treatment for their headaches often experience significant relief from their suffering for a long period of time. In many cases, the migraines do not reappear.

Using acupuncture to treat migraines requires that small sterile needles be inserted in various areas of the body. Once inserted into specific points on the body, the needles correct the flow of energy known as Qi, improving the body’s circulation of energy which then works to eliminate a headache, as well as prevent the migraine headaches from reoccurring. It is estimated that more than 28 million Americans experience migraines each year, and it is one of the main reasons people seek medical attention, including the use of alternative therapies such as acupuncture. Acupuncture has become a well-accepted alternative solution for migraine sufferers and has significant medical support showing that the use of acupuncture as a natural remedy for migraine headaches reduced the frequency of the headaches as well as the intensity of the migraine headache pain.

Migrane Headaches And Occupational Disability

Definition of Disability

Long Term Disability Insurance definitions vary. Here are some typical ones:

you are disabled when the Insurance Company determines that:

    • you are limited from performing the material and substantial duties of your regular occupation due to your sickness or injury; and – you have a 20% or more loss in your indexed monthly earnings due to the same sickness or injury.

After 36 months of payments, you are disabled the Insurance Company determines that due to the same sickness or injury, you are unable to perform the duties of any gainful occupation for which you are reasonably fitted by education, training or experience

Note how the definition changes after 36 months.

Here is another

Total Disability or Totally Disabled means during your Elimination Period and the next Own Occupation Period (shown in the Benefit Highlights), you, because of your Injury or Sickness, are unable to perform the Material and Substantial Duties of your Own Occupation.  After Total or’ Partial Disability benefits combined have been paid to you for Own Occupation Period (shown in the Benefit Highlights), you will continue to be considered Totally Disabled if you are unable to perform, with reasonable continuity, any Gainful Occupation for which you are or become reasonably qualified for by education, training or experience.

And another

you will be considered totally disabled if all these conditions are met:

  1. you are unable to do the substantial and material duties of your regular occupation.  your regular occupation is your usual work when total disability starts.  If you are retired and not working when total disability starts, your regular occupation will be the normal activities of a retired person of like age; and
  2. your total disability starts while this policy is in force; and
  3. your total disability results from sickness or injury; and
  4. you are receiving medical care from a doctor which is appropriate for the injury or sickness.  When in the opinion of the doctor future care would be of no benefit to you, then the requirement of receiving medical care will be considered to be met.  Doctor means all providers of medical care other than yourself, when such services are within the scope of the provider’s licensed authority.

And California has its own common law definition

California law requires courts to deviate from total disability definitions in some instances Hangarter v. Provident Life and Acc. Ins. Co, 373 F.3d 998, 1006 (9th Cir. 2004). Sometimes, it’s called the Erreca standard. California requires when coverage for “any occupation” is too narrow, the Court must read a common sense definition into the policy based on two cases.  Erreca v. Western States Life Insurance Company, 19 Cal. 2d 388 (Cal. 1942), and Moore v. American United Life Insurance Company, 150 Cal. App. 3d 610 (Cal. Ct. App. 1984). These two cases, when read together define total disability “does not signify an absolute state of helplessness but means such a disability as renders the insured unable to perform the substantial and material acts necessary to the prosecution of a business or occupation in the usual or customary way.”

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