5 Ways to Help a Friend or Loved One Who Suffers From Migraines
Migraines affect one in four people in every U.S. household, according to the American Migraine Foundation. So odds are high that you have a family member, friend or coworker who struggles with migraines, whether occasional or frequent, minor or severe.
Here are five tips from migraine experts on how you can help them.
Don’t fault or downplay migraine symptoms
Telling a friend their migraine is just a bad headache will likely upset them and invalidates the pain they are experiencing, says Dr. Lauren Green, a neurologist at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California. “When someone is suffering from a migraine, they have other associated symptoms. In addition to just the head pain, sometimes patients can experience nausea, vomiting, light or sound sensitivity,” says Green. “It is quite debilitating.”
Above all, be patient with migraine sufferers, saysDr. Lawrence Newman, director of the Headache Division in the Department of Neurology at New York University Langone Health. “What we see often, unfortunately, is the spouse or the loved one is in a huff … you have to be sympathetic because the patient who’s having the migraine does not want to be ruining the plans, nor do they want to be in excruciating pain either.”
Be supportive, but not intrusive
Try to be helpful without prying, says Newman. Also, don’t say that you know what they’re going through—unless you also suffer from migr...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Nadia Suleman Tags: Uncategorized How To Migraine onetime Source Type: news
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