Blog #20: Support Shades for Migraine in NZ
This year I’m representing Kiwis as a Shades for Migraine community leader.
As a leader, I’ve ordered a bunch of resources from the Shades for Migraine team in the USA. Unfortunately, the resource kit hasn’t arrived yet – hopefully it does soon – but in the meantime, I’m starting to drum up support for the campaign, and I’m asking you to be involved (it’s super easy I promise).
What is Shades for Migraine?
Shades for Migraine is a global awareness campaign that asks everyone to wear a pair of sunglasses on 21 June to show support for the 1 billion people living with migraine disease worldwide.
There’s no clear data on the number of people in New Zealand living with migraine. This blog takes a stab at the impact based on Australian data, and a rough estimate is anywhere between 500,000 – 1,000,000 Kiwis.
How I became involved
The Shades for Migraine social media campaign was created in 2017 by the Association of Migraine Disorders. This year, they decided to go global and put a call out for people worldwide to apply to be a community leader to help spread awareness about the impact of migraine all across the globe.
I decided to apply as I thought I could use this blog and social media channels to help advocate in a small but meaningful way.
How you can be involved
It’s so simple that if you know anyone with migraine (hey, you know me, even if we haven’t met in person) you really don’t have any excuse not to participate.
On or around Monday 21 June, take a photo of yourself in a pair of sunglasses and upload to your social media channels using the hashtag #shadesformigraine. Also, please use the hashtag #migrainedownunder so I can see you as well – I’m on Facebook and Instagram.
You can also help spread the word by challenging 3 people to also post a photo on social media.
Why sunglasses?
Migraine is more than just a headache, it’s a complex neurological condition. Migraine head pain is only one of a long list of symptoms, another is sensitivity to light. Sunglasses are a visual representation of this invisible migraine symptom.
As a side note: I don’t think I’m particularly sensitive to light, but in my quest to try everything to minimise my migraine attacks I do wear a pair of FL-41 glasses when I’m using my laptop and sometimes when I watch TV. I wear TheraSpecs, which is a brand of FL-41 glasses and filter out up to 80% of blue light. Blue light is emitted from devices such as computers, mobile phones and fluorescent and LED lighting and is thought to trigger migraine in some people.I love wearing my TheraSpecs, and I find they help to minimise eye strain after a long day at my computer.
Fingers crossed the resource kit arrives
I hope the resource kit arrives from the USA before 21 June. It contains a lot of official Shades for Migraine purple sunglasses, pens, factsheets and brochures that I want to distribute to help raise awareness. I’ll let you know when they arrive as I’d love to hand out as many sunglasses and other resources as I can. But you can just wear your normal pair of sunglasses on 21 June!
So in summary:
On Monday 21 June, take a photo of yourself wearing a pair of sunglasses – on your own, with your kids, with your workmates, with your family, with your pet.
Post it on social media, with the hashtags #shadesformigraine and #migrainedownunder.
Feel good about raising awareness about migraine disease.
If you’re in Auckland and would like some sunglasses, please get in touch and I’ll let you know if they arrive on time.
Email me sarah@sayline.co.nz, join the conversation on Facebook or join the Migraine Down Under community in our private Facebook group.
And I’m now on Instagram, come say hello!