Migraine - Causes, Symptoms, Health Insurance Coverage

​What Is Migraine?

All headaches are not migraines, but all migraines are a severe type of headache. There are four stages of migraine. Prodrome, which is a warning sign. The next stage is Aura, which is a beginning symptom. The third stage is a headache, and the last stage is Post-drome, in which a person feels tired. Migraine is more common in women.

Symptoms

The following mentioned signs and symptoms are common in a person who is suffering from migraine:

• Food cravings
• Change in mood
• Constipation
• Stiffness in the neck before getting a migraine attack
• You may see various bright spots, shapes, or flashes of light
• Pulsating and throbbing pain on one or both sides of the head
• Sensitivity to sound and light
• Blurry vision
• May faint because of light-headedness
• Nausea and vomiting

If you are facing any of the above-mentioned symptoms, you should contact your doctor immediately. 

​Diagnosis

If you are suffering from the symptoms that might lead to migraines, your neurologist will diagnose it based on your and your family's medical history, symptoms, and then will ask you to go through a physical and neurological examination. There are certain tests that you have to go through if your migraine is severe:

• MRI Scan: In this type of scan, with the help of a powerful magnetic field and radio waves, the doctor can see the detailed images of the patient's brain and blood vessels. This scan helps doctors to see whether or not patients have strokes, tumors, infections, bleeding in the brain, infections, or any other brain and neurological conditions.
• CT scan: With the help of X-rays, a CT scan helps in creating a detailed cross-sectional image of the patient's brain. This helps doctors diagnose medical problems that may be causing headaches other than migraines.

If all these tests come fine, then doctor becomes sure that it is a migraine that is causing severe headache, and he/ she prescribe medicine accordingly.

Treatment

The main aim of treating migraines is to stop the severe headache and prevent future attacks. Your doctor may prescribe you:

• Pain-relieving medications: This is also known as an abortive treatment. Patients can take the prescribed drugs during migraine attacks to stop it from happening.
• Preventive medications: Patients have to take these drugs daily to lessen the severity of migraines.
• Medications that lower Blood pressure: Medications include beta-blockers such as propranolol and metoprolol tartrate.
• Antidepressants: An antidepressant namely amitriptyline can prevent migraines from happening, however, due to its side effects such as weight gain and sleepiness, your doctor may prescribe some other antidepressants.
• Anti-seizure drugs: Topiramate and Valproate can help you but also comes with side effects like change in weight, dizziness, and much more.
  
  
  

​Health Insurance

Migraine can cause severe headaches. Suffering from health issues is not only physically taxing but can also drain you financially. Therefore, it is advised to buy health insurance policy which will provide financial coverage that can take care of medical expenses and hospitalization bills. It takes care of pre and post hospitalization bills. If you buy health insurance, you will not only get the cashless treatment from a network hospital where the bill is directly settled by your insurance provider with the hospital but will also enjoy tax benefits under section 80D of Income Tax Act, 1961. Make sure to know your policy details and covers before purchasing a health insurance policy.