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Archive for April, 2006

Homeowner’s insurance basics

Friday, April 28th, 2006

Homeowner’s insurance protects you against financial damages or other losses due to fires, theft, storms or other disastrous incidents, including accidents on your property. This insurance protects your home, your personal property kept inside the home as well as others’ personal property stored in your home. It may also cover injuries visitors sustain while inside your house.

While some insurance, like auto liability insurance, is required by law, you are not legally bound to purchase homeowner’s insurance. However, if you are paying a mortgage on your home, your lender may compel you to insure it so they can protect their investment in the event of any damage or destruction to the property.

Even if you own you home outright and are no longer required by your mortgage provider to have homeowner’s insurance, you may still want to consider keeping your policy. Your home is probably the single biggest investment you’ll make, and you should consider continuing to protect that investment.

Typically, a homeowner’s insurance policy covers your house and any other detached structures on the property, including garages and sheds.

While the personal property covered includes big-ticket items such as diamond rings and expensive watches, it also includes regular, everyday items such as furniture, appliances, clothing and entertainment items, including televisions and VCRs.

However, be aware that your policy may have certain coverage limits. For example, if a valuable watch is stolen from your home, a typical policy may only cover you for $1,500 of your loss. If the value of your watch significantly exceeds that limit, you may want to consider purchasing additional coverage.

If someone trips and falls on your property, a homeowner’s insurance policy will pay for their medical expenses, shielding both you and your finance company from having to pay damages.

Your homeowner’s insurance policy may also contain a “Loss Of Use” provision, which covers expenses incurred if you have to live elsewhere while your home is being repaired after a covered event.

The storm coverage on a typical homeowner’s insurance policy protects your house from damage against the elements including hail, hurricanes, lightning, windstorms and rainstorms, but does not cover floods or earthquakes. Your lender may require you to purchase this coverage, depending on where you live.

For example, if you purchase a home in a designated flood zone (places where there is a significant risk of melting snow, a flood-prone lake or river, or water flowing downhill) your lender may require you to purchase separate flood insurance. Just don’t wait until the rainy season begins to decide to buy the coverage, because there is typically a 30-day waiting period before it actually goes into effect.

Home flood insurance is offered by the same carrier as your homeowner’s insurance, but is actually provided by the Federal Flood Insurance Program.

Similarly, for earthquake protection, you should examine the history of the area in which you are purchasing your home, and if an earthquake is probable, may want to add an endorsement to most homeowner’s policies or purchase a separate policy.

While your home is arguably the biggest investment you will ever make, it may also be your biggest liability. Homeowner’s insurance will help you protect your investment.

By Darryl James

Posted in Insurance | No Comments »

Renter’s insurance basics

Friday, April 28th, 2006

Renter’s insurance is protection you may purchase for a house or apartment that you don’t own, but are renting. The policy protects your personal property and covers you in case of injury to another person or damage to their property.

While the landlord may have a policy protecting the structure, your personal property is not protected, and is your responsibility. The owner’s coverage will not protect your personal property nor provide you with liability protection in the event of a disaster, accident or theft. Further, if your guest suffers personal injury or theft of his/her personal items while in the dwelling you are renting, you could be held liable.

Renter’s insurance protects you from damage or destruction of personal property in the case of fire, theft and/or vandalism. Depending on your renter’s insurance policy, your coverage can be similar to homeowner’s insurance, in that coverage may also extend to your personal property when it is not inside your rented dwelling. It may even provide legal defense expenses in the case of a suit filed against you by a guest.

Renter’s insurance is typically inexpensive, especially when compared to homeowner’s insurance, because you are not covering the structure, only the items within it. Moreover, you may receive a discount on your renter’s insurance policy if you combine it with your auto insurance policy, or other coverage you already receive from your existing insurance carrier.

As in the cases of homeowner’s insurance and condominium owner’s insurance, your renter’s insurance policy protects your personal property (including clothing and furniture) in cases of fire, freezing, lightning, explosion, falling objects, smoke damage, riots, windstorms, hail, vandalism or theft.

Renter’s insurance can be crucial in the case of plumbing or appliance failures which lead to water discharge, or the freezing of plumbing systems, because your landlord’s insurance policy may not protect your personal property.

Also similar to homeowner’s insurance is loss of use coverage–protection for specific losses when a covered incident occurs, and Additional living expense protection–coverage for expenses above what is considered normal if you are displaced by a covered event.

Finally, just as with homeowner’s insurance, a renter’s insurance policy does not protect you in the case of flooding or an earthquake. For protection in these extreme cases, you must purchase separate coverage.

Check with the owner of the dwelling you plan on renting to determine what coverage is provided and accordingly, what additional insurance coverage you may need to secure.

By Darryl James

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Should I buy insurance from the rental car company?

Friday, April 28th, 2006

Renting a car is relatively inexpensive if you shop around for a deal. But generally, the rental agent will ask if you want to purchase rental insurance, which can sour the deal, turning it into a burdensome expense.

Before you decide whether or not to purchase the coverage, there are several things you should keep in mind.

First, understand that though car rental companies may not want to admit it, most of their counter agents earn commission from selling daily insurance protection to renters. As such, when they offer you rental insurance, they may have their best financial interest at heart, not yours.

If you are considering getting the rental insurance, the following services are generally available:

A Loss Damage Waiver (LDW) This daily policy covers theft or damage to the rental vehicle and runs from $9 to $19 dollars per day.
Additional Liability Coverage While the rental agency will already offer some liability coverage as required by law, it is pretty basic, and you could still be responsible to pay damages before their coverage deductible kicks in. You can purchase additional protection to lower those deductibles. This coverage generally runs from $9 to $15 per day.
Personal Accident Insurance (PAI) Covers you and your passengers’ medical expenses in the event of an accident. This can be rendered unnecessary by your personal auto insurance or personal health insurance. Typically this coverage costs between $1 to $5 a day.
Personal Effects Coverage (PEC) Protects any personal items in the rental auto that may be stolen. This coverage generally ranges from $1 to $4 a day.

To be clear, while it is necessity to have insurance to rent a car; it needn’t come from the car rental agency.
There are several things you can do before signing up for the rental agency’s policy:

Check with your credit card company. Many major credit card companies provide insurance coverage when you rent a car. Check to make certain what they cover and whether they will pay up front for any damage, or if they have a strict reimbursement program. Also check to see how long reimbursement takes.
Next, check with your personal auto insurance carrier. If you have full coverage on your personal auto, more than likely that coverage can be extended to cover the rental car.
If you are not covered by either of these sources, consider a non-owner auto liability insurance policy, which protects damage you caused to other vehicles and/or passengers in other vehicles. Such a policy will also cover medical expenses for both the driver and passenger(s) of your rental vehicle.

However, these policies typically do not feature collision coverage, which is necessary if you damage or crash the rental car. If your credit card does not offer collision coverage on your rental car, you nay want to purchase that from the rental agency.
In addition to the financial drawback of purchasing vehicle insurance from your rental company, your driving record may be accessed and based on your driving history, the company may refuse to sell you insurance protection and consequently, refuse to allow you to rent the vehicle.

By Darryl James

Posted in Autos, Insurance | No Comments »

In the world of credit scoring, simple doesn’t always do it

Thursday, April 27th, 2006

The basic concept of Occam’s razor, that the simplest explanation always works, just doesn’t seem to work in the sometimes strange world of determining a credit score.

For example, the simple-is-as-simple-does theory of credit card management says that you should have one credit card, use it sparingly and pay off the entire balance every month. Such fiscal responsibility has to reflect well on your credit score, right?

Well, not exactly. Though it may seem counter-intuitive some, your credit score—the all important number usually between 300 and 850 that is used by creditors to determine your creditworthiness—may not rise as quickly as you like if you use this logic, according to many credit counselors. By their point of view, if you only have one credit card, you are not giving them many opportunities to demonstrate your credit worthiness.

Instead, credit counselors suggest that you have two or even three credit cards that you can successfully manage. Additionally, your credit score will improve if you successfully make payments on different kinds of debts such as credit cards and installment loans, like a loan for a car or any other loan where you make regular, monthly payments.

Of course, the key word is to successfully make payments on these credit cards and loans. If you take on more debt than you can handle, you will hurt your score.

Conventional logic also suggests that it is always best to pay off your balance in full every month. If you maxed out your credit card with one large purchase, and paid the balance five days later, you would be both money ahead and demonstrate your credit worthiness, basic logic would seem to suggest.

While that may be a sound financial decision and one that could save you from having to pay finance charges, that line of thinking may not boost your credit score as much as you would think. Instead, what matters to those keeping score is the amount you charge much lower than you credit limit.

Ideally, credit counselors say, you shouldn’t charge more than 30 percent of your credit limit. What’s more, your credit insurer takes note of your balance and sends a report to the credit bureau once a month. If that snapshot of your account happens immediately after you have made a large purchase, but before your credit company received your payment, it may give potential lenders the impression that you are overextended on your bills.

Though it may be counter-intuitive at first, it may make sense to determine how your credit score is calculated so that you can boost your credit rating, and potentially be able to secure a lower interest loan. That’s a strategy that makes sense and could save you more than a few cents.

By David Plowman

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Socially Conscious Investing

Tuesday, April 25th, 2006

One of the fastest growing segments in the Asset Management world today is Socially Conscious Investing. Many investors are wielding their dollars toward supporting a socially conscious agenda. It’s not just the little guy either - major endowments, foundations, and even some institutional investors have built social screens into their investment decision process.

While this is both noble and increasingly less restrictive (as more and more socially conscious investment products are developed), the real question remains - are these investors actually “doing the right thing”? After all, does socially conscious investing really advance an agenda of ideas and values, or does it simply pour dollars into the latest marketing trick in the investment world?

I would argue strongly that it’s the latter. Socially Conscious Investing is at best an imprecise strategy that is more about drawing dollars into a cleverly marketed investment product than it is about prudent investing or even right and wrong. Put more simply – socially conscious investing is almost an oxymoron. The purpose of investing is simple – to make money. It’s a mutually exclusive concept from social activism and to attempt to blend the two makes very little practical sense.

First, the concept begs the question – where do you draw the line? Socially conscious money managers employ specific screens to rid their portfolio of “objectionable” industries such as alcohol, tobacco, or firearms. To me, this is an abstract and dangerous policy. Let’s say Company A is eligible for the portfolio because it is not in those types of industries. Let’s also say, for arguments’ sake, that Company A has the worst history of minority and female hiring in the market. Is Company A any more socially redeemable than Anheuser Busch? Or, is it much worse? What if Company B is in Health Care? No problem there – “welcome aboard” say the usual social screeners. However, closer inspection finds that Company B pollutes the environment and hasn’t given a penny to a single charitable cause in its history. Still think that company is in the socially conscious category? Starting to see my point? The truth is that unless an investment manager is going to look at every last variable, there is no way to draw the line and separate companies on the basis of social consciousness.

Next, consider the reality of how the investment world actually works. Major stock markets are extremely liquid. If one socially conscious dollar doesn’t buy the stock, there’s always another dollar that will. Thus, NOT investing dollars in certain companies has no adverse effect on those companies’ stocks. That’s just the reality of our highly liquid market, in which millions of shares are traded every day. So, if a goal of these investors is to punish certain companies for their behaviors or businesses, they are losing that battle in a big way. Admittedly, that’s not the real motivation here. These investors aren’t usually trying to punish companies; instead they are choosing not to support them with their own money. The problem with that simple choice is that it’s way too indirect – the net effect doesn’t really make a difference. If someone wants to make a statement with their money, it’s infinitely more effective to put those dollars directly toward a cause, charity, or organization than it is to withhold those dollars from buying a company’s stock.

Many socially conscious investors believe their portfolios have reduced risk because of the healthy nature of their businesses. Presumably, they mean the threat of lawsuits or legislation, but if the intent is to avoid these suits or rulings – does it work? Again, I say not a chance. Enron, WorldCom, Tyco, and Adelphia are all in industries that are free and clear from virtually any social investment screen. Needless to say, their behavior set new lows for corporate crime and each of their stocks has been decimated by legal woes, government intervention, and bankruptcies.

Perhaps the single best argument against socially conscious investing is the proverbial Bottom Line. In our society, SIN = PROFITABILITY. The evidence is overwhelming – just take a look at the balance sheets of Philip Morris (Altria), Molson Coors, Lockheed Martin, Las Vegas Sands, or Playboy Enterprises – safe to say these companies are making money hand over socially unconscionable fist. In fact, there is a mutual fund called Vice Fund which invests ONLY in gaming, alcohol, tobacco, aerospace & defense. The fund believes these industries are “recession proof” and the fund has returned 18.4% annually since its inception, including 27.5% over the last year. Ironically, my best advice to those of you who would like to be socially conscious investors is to put your money wherever you can make the most attractive rate of return, and then use your profits to directly execute some real change wherever you see fit.

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Smart Money $

Tuesday, April 25th, 2006

Does it seem to many of you who are trying to invest or save some money, that only the rich get richer in the market? The reason that perception exists is because – candidly – it’s true. Historically, the U.S. stock market (S&P 500) has average just about 10%. The average investor’s return, however, is a measly 3.5%. This is due to return-killing behaviors such as human nature, emotion, fees, and taxes. Meanwhile, the average institutional investor – the “Smart Money” as Wall St. has always referred to major endowments, foundations, pension plans, and institutions – have returned 12.5% annually over the long haul. Why this ridiculous 9% performance gap? Are those endowments and foundations really “smarter” people as the name implies? No – the primary reason is that the Smart Money invests in a safer, more diversified manner than does the average investor. Thus, each of you can improve your investment performance by changing your investment approach to emulate what the Smart Money has always done.

Major institutional investors have consistently outperformed the “average investor” due to their understanding, access, and commitment to true diversification across multiple asset classes. In more simplified terms – they are not married to just the US stock market as most individual investors have been. The biggest problem that most of you face is not making money when times are good, it’s protecting that money when the market is bad. The wealthiest investors have always met this challenge by paying as much attention to the downside as they do to returns on the way up. The key is to have pieces/parts of your portfolio that are unrelated or have low correlations to the performance of the stock market. These alternative investments will protect against market downturns and better diversify your portfolio. In order to better position your current portfolio for the future and inject a “smart money” approach to your investment management, I recommend using one or more of these components, depending on the amount of money you have to invest:

Real Estate

• Cash & Bonds – as boring as these asset classes may seem, the Smart Money investors have always held these less exciting fixed income instruments in their portfolios – because when the stock market is down – it’s always nice to have that protection and income that cash & bonds have historically been able to provide.

• International Stocks – Take a quick look around your home – see anything with the name Nestle, Sony, Toyota, Nokia, Cadbury, or Michelin on it? The point being – there is literally a world of opportunity out there in terms of investments. Many of the world’s best companies are located outside the U.S., yet most investors have not figured out what their institutional counterparts have long since known – that international stock markets can provide key diversification and also return potential. Don’t make the same mistake – add Global investments to your portfolio.

• Hedge Funds – Wealthy investors have been able to retain capital during down markets for years through complex instruments such as derivates, equity collars, arbitrage trading, and other hedging strategies. I recommend a more fundamental approach to hedge funds – a diversified fund of funds strategy designed to provide equity returns with significantly less volatility. In simplest terms, the multi strategy approach is designed to squeeze out incremental returns from a variety of trading strategies, hedge against market loss, and produce attractive returns in both good and bad markets.

• Managed Futures – Just as your mutual fund managers trade stocks and bonds to deliver performance from the retail markets, a qualified Futures portfolio trades in a wide variety of Global marketplaces in order to deliver completely non-correlated investment returns. If possible, I recommended adding a manager in this important asset class to take advantage of such opportunistic areas as Interest Rates, Energy, Metals, Currencies, Agriculture, and Indices. The portfolio has the ability to perform in both up and down markets and has virtually no historical correlation to the broader stock and bond markets.

• Commodities – In my opinion, the optimal way to capitalize on the surging global demand for raw materials or “real assets” by such growing consumers as China and India is to simply “buy what they are buying.” In other words, instead of investing directly in expensive and perhaps financially flawed emerging stock markets, the more prudent approach to making money on these macro trends is to participate in the secular trend of dramatically rising prices in the global commodities markets. This can include energy, metals, agricultural products, timber, and other hard assets that trade actively in markets around the world.

By adding these components strategically to a portfolio, even the average investor can significantly reduce market risk and begin to experience the smoother ride that the Smart Money as always enjoyed.

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Getting Started on Saving & Investing

Tuesday, April 25th, 2006

Most of us work hard earning money. Managing your money wisely in order to save, will build you financial freedom. Few people, however, understand and practice this principle.

How to start your savings starts with managing your expenses- A Budget. Here’s where you start:

· Develop a monthly budget. Break down you expenses between mandatory and discretionary.· If at the end of the budget process, you don’t have enough for savings, determine which of your discretionary expenses can be reduced or postponed that are not important and urgent.· Review your budget regularly. See if you are living within your budget and which items need to be adjusted. Can you do away with any expenses? On the contrary, are you saving too much and not enjoying your life?

· Understand that setting aside savings is important for emergencies also. We all encounter emergencies, but if you are constantly stripping your savings for emergencies then, you will never move ahead with your savings planning. And, are they truly emergencies?

· Learn various investment opportunities

· Earning income from your investments is wonderful experience. It can be exciting and fun. Investment income is considered passive income. In other words, you are not spending labor hours to generate income. Investment income works for you. If you are not experienced with investing, taking classes is extremely wise and helpful.

· If investing is beyond you, then seek the guidance of a financial consultant.

· Start early – the power of compounding can do magic to your financial future. Compounding is when income from savings then earns income on itself.

· There are many forms of investments. The higher the return on your investment is usually associated with the risk of the of loosing your investment.

· Here are just a few forms of investments- bank savings, certificates of deposits, passbook savings, stocks, mutual funds, bonds, real estate and many more.

· Most investment counselors will tell you to spread your savings over different kinds of investments from less risky, like bank savings to high risk stocks.

If you haven’t started savings, today should be the start of your financial freedom.

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Investments for beginers

Tuesday, April 25th, 2006

Q: I’ve recently been considering investing some of my savings. What options are available to me?

A: Investing is the time honored method of achieving financial independance. Every personal finance plan should account for some investments. Good investing will result in greater assests and greater financial security. Starting investments will require some sort of long term plan based on your age and place in life, your personal goals, and how much risk you are able to undertake. Once you have hammered out these issues, then you can begin planning your investment strategy.

Essentially, investment strategies can be broken down into three different categories: (1) Conservative: invests only in cash, bonds, and fixed income investments; (2) Moderate: invests a portion of assets into growth investments, but also into conservative investments; and (3) Speculative: Invests most assets into investments with high risk.

There are numerous types of investments to be aware of, which are broken down as follows:

Stocks: Investment of shares of ownership in a company.

Bonds: A fixed income security. Bonds are usually issued for a fixed term and return the principal with interest.

Mutual Funds: A collective investment which pools money from many different investors, and invests the money into a portfolio of stocks, bonds, short-term money market instruments, and other securities.

Futures: A contract which give the holder the option (or right) and obligation to buy an underlying instrument at a predetermined time in the future at a predetermined price.

Options: A contract which gives the holder the option to buy a security in a predetermined time for a predetermined price.

So once you have determined your financial goals, you must structure an investment porfolio based upon your needs. It is a good idea to work with a financial advisor to create an investment strategy and to help you monitor your returns.

Posted in Money/Investments | 1 Comment »

Lactose Intolerance

Monday, April 24th, 2006

Lactose is a type of sugar that is present in milk and other dairy products. People who are lactose intolerant lack the ability to manufacture lactase, an enzyme produced in the small intestine. Ordinarily, lactase breaks lactose down into simpler sugar forms called glucose and galactose. These simpler forms of sugar are easier for your body to absorb, because they can quickly make their way into your body’s bloodstream and be burned as energy.

Lactose intolerance afflicts both males and females in the same way, but some ethnic groups are more susceptible to the condition. Asian Americans, African Americans and Native Americans are among the groups that are the most likely to be affected by lactose intolerance. The American Dietetic Association estimates that between 30 and 50 million Americans are lactose intolerant.

If you experience stomach cramps, bloating, gas, diarrhea or just serious discomfort every time you consume dairy, you might just be lactose intolerant. Many people who are affected by lactose intolerance don’t even suspect that they have a problem digesting dairy products. Many people who think they have irritable bowl syndrome are actually feeling effects of their body’s inability to produce lactase.

If you’re not sure whether or not you are lactose intolerant, a simple hydrogen breath test can be administered by a doctor to get a clear diagnosis of the problem. When a person is lactose intolerant, they’re unable to break down lactase, which causes the enzyme to ferment (potentially causing uncomfortable gas and bloating) and creates abnormal levels of chemicals like hydrogen.

When a doctor tests to see if you’re lactose intolerant, you are instructed to breathe into a tube for an initial breath sample. Then, you eat dairy foods that contain lactose, and you wait about thirty minutes. At that time a second breath test is administered, and the sample is checked for levels of hydrogen.

An endoscopy can also be administered by your doctor. For this procedure a doctor will insert a tube (with a small camera attached to it) in to either your mouth or rectum. The doctor will then check out the live video feed coming from your intestines, and they can even take tissue samples to see what problems are affecting your digestive system. If you can, try the hydrogen breath test first, do so. It’s a much more comfortable method of diagnosing the problem.

If you’re diagnosed as lactose intolerant, it’s not the end of the world. There are plenty of ways that you can deal with the issue. For starters, don’t east any foods that you know contain lactose. Giving up dairy products might be too difficult for some. If you find that you can’t give up ice cream or cereal altogether, then consider taking Lactaid supplements. Lactaid, and other over generic, over the counter tablets can help you break down milk sugar so that you can still enjoy your favorite dairy foods. However, in order to be effective, you must take these supplements before consuming dairy products.

Read the labels of the food you’re consuming, so that you know ahead of time whether or not you’ll be eating lactose. It’s important that people with lactose intolerance get their calcium form other sources. Eat calcium-rich veggies like broccoli and spinach. Try to eat some tofu or drink soy milk. A lot of yogurts contain lactose that is easy to digest. Lactose-free milk can also be purchased. If you have to eat foods that contain lactose, be sure to eat those dairy products together with other foods so that your body will have an easier time digesting.

Lactose intolerance doesn’t have to slow your life down. With plenty of products on the market that cater to those who can’t digest lactose, there’s no reason why you can’t continue to enjoy variations of your favorite dairy foods. Stock up on supplements like Lactaid if you plan to continue eating foods that contain lactose. Lactose intolerance can only be dealt with if you know that you have it. If there’s any doubt in your mind, go see a doctor and get a hydrogen breath test. It might make your life a whole lot more comfortable.

Christopher Stout

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Understanding migraine headaches

Monday, April 24th, 2006

There’s nothing worse than a migraine headache. One side of your head (typically behind your eye) starts pounding. You start throbbing in pain, you’re sensitive to light and sound, your entire body starts constricting in weird ways. Migraines sufferers know that a migraine headache is not something that you would wish on even you worst enemy. When you have a migraine, time stands still—no, wait—time actually slows down so that each excruciating sensation can be felt in its timeless entirety. If you’ve never experienced the effects of a migraine first-hand, the feeling can best be described as a root canal of your head that activates pain in your entire nervous system.

Migraines have different effects on different people. Some women can experience migraines when there’s a sharp change in the estrogen levels in their body. Because of this factor, women are more likely than men to develop migraines.

Sometimes migraine suffers experience side effects to in addition to a splitting headache. These bonus side effects include: nausea and/or vomiting, diarrhea, blurred or spotty vision, sinus pain, a stuffy nose, a feeling hot and sweaty or feeling (or alternatively a cold and clammy feeling), neck pain, fatigue, and confusion as to why all this is happening to you. A migraine can cause increased activity to you sympathetic nervous system, the system that controls your body’s responses to stress and pain. The heightened activity of the sympathetic nervous system is what causes migraines to make your body act so strangely.

But what causes migraines themselves? Migraine headaches are caused in part by changes in your body’s serotonin levels. Serotonin, a monoamine neurotransmitter that plays many roles in your body, is believed to play a huge factor in regulating you mood, sleeping habits, appetite, and sex life. The chemical can have serious effects on your blood vessels. High serotonin levels cause blood vessels to constrict and shrink. When serotonin levels in your body fall, your blood vessels dilate and swell. This swelling sensation of the blood vessels in your brain is believed to be one of the main causes of migraines.

While there are many different triggers for migraines, but they fall into two main categories, Physical and psychological. The Physical triggers include: high stress levels, exhaustion, neck and head injuries, eye strain, toothaches, hunger, changes in sleeping patterns, sexual and hormonal change. Psychologically, migraines can be triggered by emotional anxiety, high stress levels, depression, shock, and excitement. Sensory overload can also lead to migraines. Migraines can also be triggered by certain foods.

While there is no way to avoid a migraine, there are some things you can do lessen your chances of getting one. For example, try to avoid the following:

Loud noises
Bright or flickering lights.
Strong odors.
Smoke-filled environments.
Drastic climate changes.
Certain foods such as chocolates, alcohol, cheese, yeast, coffee (and anything heavily caffeinated), artificial sweeteners, avocados, raisins, sauerkraut, beans, some nuts, figs, lentils, and some citrus fruits. Cigarette smoking can also lead to more migraines.

As of today, there is no cure for migraines, but there also is no shortage of ways to treat migraines. With so many different treatments available, it’s important that you try a few different remedies to try to lessen the impact of a painful migraine. Stick with what works best for you. If you feel a migraine coming on, do something about it. Try to take a nap if you can, or take some pain killers (either overt the counter or prescription strength.) Do your best to reduce your level of stress. When a migraine sets in, find a dark quiet room and try to lie down. Put a cold, wet towel over your head. Apply pressure to your scalp my massaging it firmly, and do the same with your temples.

If possible, stop whatever you’re doing and try to relax once the migraine kicks in. Don’t aggravate your migraine headache by continuing your day as usual. Many people are sympathetic to the plight of migraine sufferers. Let your boss or teacher know that your migraine has rendered you useless for the rest of the day. Don’t be afraid to ask for help, and be sure to the thank people that understand your pain. Do what you can to avoid migraines, and when they hit, do all that you can to try to sleep and let the migraine pass.

If there’s one positive that can come out of a migraine headache it’s this: after it has passed you feel as if you’ve been born into a new world. Harness that good feeling and take steps to avoid the painful effects of future migraine headaches.

Christopher Stout

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