How Medical Cannabis Can Help With Migraines

If you have ever encountered a migraine, you know how the condition can interfere with your everyday life. A significant portion of the population suffers from migraines with unknown causes. When the cause is not known, finding the most effective treatment can be a difficult process. However, there might be some hope in the form of medical cannabis. Santa Monica migraines’ specialists have been able to effectively treat patients using the medicinal herb.

Cannabis is not a new treatment option, as historical records going back to the 6^th and 7^th centuries make a reference to using it as a remedy for headaches. In the 19^th century, physicians also prescribed the therapeutic herb for serious headaches.

What is a Migraine?

A migraine is a neurological problem with severe and debilitating headaches. Symptoms of the condition include nausea, vomiting, speech problems, numbness, and sensitivity to bright lights, loud sounds, and strong aromas. Migraines affect people of all ages and tend to run in families.

The diagnosis of the condition is established based on medical history, symptoms and ruling out other causes. Symptoms of a migraine may start a few days before the headache manifests. That is called the prodromal phase, which comes with the following symptoms:

• Irritability
• Neck stiffness
• Low energy levels
• Persistent yawning
• Depression
• Hyperactivity

The most common groups of migraines are those with aura and those without aura. For aura migraine headaches, the aura arises after the prodromal phase. In an aura, you might experience the following problems:

• Trouble with speech
• A tingling feeling in your arms, face or legs
• Seeing bright patches, shapes or flashes of light
• Temporary vision loss

The nest stage is the attack phase, which is where the actual migraine pain comes in. Sometimes, the attack phase can overlap with an aura. The following are some of the symptoms of the attack stage:

• Heightened sensitivity to light and noise
• Nausea
• Feeling dizzy
• A throbbing, pulsating, pounding or perforating pain on one side of the head
• Vomiting

Once the attack phase passes, you move on to the postdrome stage. Here, you may experience changes in mood and emotions, which can range from feeling delirious and exceptionally happy to feeling overly tired and apathetic. You may continue to experience a mild headache as well.

Treating Migraines with Medical Cannabis

While prescription medications commonly administered for the management of migraines help some people, they do not provide relief to everyone. And, they often come with a host of undesirable side effects. However, proof is building up that medical cannabis may be an efficient treatment for migraine headaches.

Cannabis combats migraines through the endocannabinoid system in the body. Emerging research shows that it is possible for the endocannabinoid system to directly decrease migraine pain when stimulated by medical cannabis. The medicinal herb can lower inflammation in the brain’s dura mater tissue and minimize the production of pro-inflammatory materials, both of which add to the onset of migraines.

Medical cannabis can serve as both a preventative measure and treatment method for migraines, because of the varying causes and symptoms of the neurological condition.

With its diverse compounds and roles in many of the migraine-related problems, cannabis may be an ideal medication. It fights inflammation, eases pain, fights nausea, provides a mood boost, and acts as a sleep aid.