This 4th of July, watching the fireworks from my backyard got me thinking about how severe headache and migraine can feel like fireworks going on inside your head. As I thought through this, I actually think that fireworks is an interesting analogy to explain how nerve decompression prevents migraine pain.
If you think of the fireworks as explosions in your head, consider the fuse that is required to launch, or “trigger” the fireworks. In the old days, a fuse was lit that burned towards the fireworks that then proceeded to the explosion. Today, though I’m not a pyrotechnical expert, I imagine that an electronic fuse is used to trigger fireworks. So let’s consider the fuse as the nerves in the neck, or above the eye, or in the temple. These nerves are the triggers of the explosive migraine. Through the nerve, the signal travels toward the brain, which feels like it is exploding when the signal through the nerve reaches it.
In both fireworks and headaches, the explosion can be prevented if the fuse (or nerve) is prevented from triggering the event. The way we do this in the prevention of migraines and severe headaches is to release the nerve from the irritating forces around it- whether it be tight muscles or crossing blood vessels or constricting tissue. These irritating forces can be thought of as the match that lights the fuse or the finger that pushes the trigger button. If the match is prevented from ever lighting the fuse… no fireworks! By preventing the irritating tissue from causing the nerve to send its signal to the brain… no migraine!
If migraines or severe headaches of any diagnosis are impacting your life, it might be time to consider addressing the fuse of the problem with nerve decompression surgery, also called migraine surgery. To find out more about your options for ridding yourself of migraine pain and severe headaches, contact our Migraine Surgery Specialty Center by calling 805-969-9004. Fireworks should be for entertainment outside of the head- keep the explosions in the distance and let us help get you back to a normal life with less headache pain.
