Most people who get migraines--defined as having at least two of these symptoms: pain on one side, lasting from four hours to three days, having a pulsating quality, and coming with nausea or sensitivity to light or sound--don't take advantage of all their options, studies show. Here is a checklist of the fixes, some very new, to keep in (your aching) mind on Fox News channel.

1. Track your triggers

To pinpoint yours, keep a log of each headache, noting when it happened, what you were doing, and what you ate and drank for 24 hours before. Potential culprits: hormonal changes, cigarette smoke, bright light, caffeine, and food with nitrates, MSG, or a compound called tyramine, like aged cheese and lunch meats. Spotting a pattern and then sidestepping triggers can help keep the pain at bay.

2. Treat your allergies

Experts aren't sure why a majority of migraine sufferers have runny noses or why migraines are two to three times more common in people with nasal allergies, but here's an educated guess: Inflammatory substances released during an allergy attack seem to activate the trigeminal nerve, a primary driver of migraine pain, making headaches more frequent and severe, says Dawn C. Buse, an associate professor of neurology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Relieving your allergies--with nasal steroids, antihistamines, or allergy shots--may improve any headache symptoms that accompany them.

3. Get electrified

Electric-pulse techniques: The first-ever FDA-approved device, called Cefaly, features a headband that delivers a mild electrical current to stimulate the upper branch of the trigeminal nerve.

4. Stash painkillers

Prescription triptans like sumatriptan, a.k.a. Imitrex, and cheaper nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) and naproxen (Aleve, Anaprox) do help people ride out the misery. But don't overuse them: All can cause rebound headaches and raise the risk of chronic migraines.

5. Spit out the gum

Israeli researchers suspected that gum chewing might be why teenage patients often have chronic migraines, so they asked 30 young sufferers to quit their habit for a month. Symptoms improved for all but 4 of them--and for 19, pain disappeared altogether. The likely mechanism: Chewing stresses the jaw's temporomandibular joint, which in turn can trigger head pain.

6. Go prophylactic

Preemptive drugs make migraines shorter, less severe, and up to 80 percent less frequent. They include beta-blockers, antiseizure drugs, and even Botox (when injected into the head and neck).

7. Break the fast every day

Your morning oatmeal saves you from a blood sugar dip that can get your head a-throbbing. "When you fast, that activates the hypothalamus, the brain region that controls the drive to eat," says B. Lee Peterlin, director of Johns Hopkins Headache Research. And an activated hypothalamus is not what you want: It's been shown to be closely associated with migraine attacks.

8. Watch for bolts

You already know that weather can make your brain feel like it's in a pressure cooker. (More than half of people with migraines are sensitive to drops in variables like air pressure and temp.) Now a study that matched lightning activity with headache diaries kept by people in Ohio and Missouri has found that flashes alone may lead to migraines. Scientists can't explain the effect but theorize that lightning may emit electromagnetic waves, produce ozone in the atmosphere, or release fungal spores (lovely!) that cause trouble separate from other factors.

9. Count your omegas

Go for 3s, not 6s: Fatty fish and plant sources such as chia seeds are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which convert to compounds that block pain signaling in the nervous system. Meanwhile, omega-6 fatty acids in corn, safflower, and soy oils convert to pain-promoting compounds.