Like most of you who suffer from migraines, I can vividly recall the day, time and circumstances of my first attack. It was mid September of 2005, right at the start of my first semester in college. I recall that day I had Bio 101, College Algebra 101 and a humanities elective (I don’t particularly recall which one) but my backpack that day was so over burdened with books the size of boulders. I noticed as I went about my day the building tension burning between the junction of my shoulders and neck. By the time I made it home I began to notice a slight inability to focus my eyes on objects, shortly followed by a curious spot of shimmering light just set off right to the center of my field of vision. The tension between my shoulders that I had noticed earlier was now a numbing throb emanating up to the base of my skull. Fifteen minutes in, nearly my entire field of vision was obstructed by this shimmering “television snow”.

I had no clue what was happening to me, the only thing I could do was lay down. It seemed to have taken for ever for the aura to clear. However, once cleared the most debilitating, throbbing, nausea inducing headache clenched down around my head and neck. it took over 30 hours for it to finally leave my system.

Ever since that day I had been struggling with ways to control my migraine attacks. Since I have learned that regular exercise, good hydration and stress management are my two biggest allies to preventing migraines. However, if my diligence wavers and a migraine hits, my only immediate relief is though massage and cold stone treatments. I highly recommend finding practitioners close to you for this truly unique and quick solution to stopping the pain of a migraine.