What's causing the pain on the right side of my head?

The headache on the right side is what we call migraine. Migraine is really painful and it hurts very badly. There are many reasons for migraine, the most common ones are genetic factors, mental and dietary factors, and excessive fatigue. Timely treatment and prevention are necessary.

1. What causes migraine?

1. Genetic factors

About 60% of migraine patients have a family history, and the risk of migraine in their relatives is 3 to 6 times that of the general population. No consistent Mendelian inheritance pattern has been found in familial migraine patients, reflecting the interaction between different penetrances and polygenic genetic characteristics and environmental factors.

Familial hemiplegic migraine is a clear autosomal dominant inheritance with highly abnormal penetrance, which has been located at three disease gene loci: 19p13 (associated with mistranslation mutations in the voltage-gated P/Q calcium channel gene expressed in the brain), 1q21, and 1q31.

2. Endocrine and metabolic factors

The disease occurs more frequently in females than in males, usually during adolescence, with attacks more likely to occur during menstruation, and attacks decrease or stop during pregnancy or after menopause. This suggests that endocrine and metabolic factors are involved in the pathogenesis of migraine. In addition, metabolic abnormalities such as serotonin (5-HT), norepinephrine, substance P and arachidonic acid can also affect the occurrence of migraine.

3. Diet and mental factors

Migraine attacks can be triggered by certain foods and drugs, including cheese containing tyramine, meat and pickled foods containing nitrite preservatives, chocolate containing phenylethylamine, food additives such as monosodium glutamate (MSG), red wine and wine, etc. Medications include oral contraceptives and vasodilators such as nitroglycerin. Other environmental and mental factors such as tension, overwork, emotional excitement, excessive or insufficient sleep, menstruation, and strong light can also trigger it.

2. Traditional Chinese Medicine for Migraine

1. Stewed Pig Brain with Chinese Yam and Chinese Wolfberry

Take 30 grams of Chinese yam, 30 grams of wolfberry, 1 pig brain, a little rice wine and fine salt. Soak the pig brain in a bowl, tear off the fascia and set aside. Then wash the Chinese yam and wolfberry with clean water separately, put them into the pot together with the pig brain, add appropriate amount of water, stew for two hours, then add rice wine and fine salt, and stew for another 10 minutes. This soup has the function of nourishing the liver and kidneys, replenishing the middle and benefiting the blood. It is suitable for people who suffer from migraine mainly due to blood deficiency.

2. Celery porridge

Take 12 grams of celery with roots and 250 grams of glutinous rice. Wash the glutinous rice and cook it into porridge. Then add the celery and boil it before eating. This porridge has the effect of clearing heat and relieving pain.

3. Mulberry, chrysanthemum and black bean porridge

Take 10 grams of mulberry leaves, 15 grams of chamomile flowers, 15 grams of fermented black beans, and 100 grams of polished rice. First, boil mulberry leaves, chamomile flowers and fermented black beans in water to extract the juice. Then put the washed polished rice into a casserole and cook it into a thin porridge. Add the juice and cook for a while. This porridge has the functions of dispelling wind and heat, clearing the liver and improving eyesight. It is suitable for patients with migraine caused by wind and heat, with symptoms of headache, bloating, thirst and constipation.