Say “Hypno” To Your Migraine?

What if there was a magic word to make your migraine pain go away, wouldn’t that be nice?  Well maybe there is something close to a magic word that may alleviate migraine symptoms.  Some studies have shown that the use of hypnotherapy can have positive effects on reducing the severity and intensity of migraine episodes.

Understanding Your Headache

One of the most important things when seeking migraine relief is to understand your migraine symptoms and triggers.  Migraines are complex and accompanied by other issues that aren’t found with a stress or tension headache.  Migraines are pulsating headaches that are often disabling to the sufferer.  Symptoms that you may experience before, during or following a migraine are nausea, vomiting, and sensitivities to light, sound, and smell.  Some people even experience visual disturbances with their migraines such as flashing lights in the line of vision or temporary loss of vision. Migraines are believed to impact nearly 5% of the general population, though women are three times more likely to experience migraines than men.  Many doctors believe this phenomenon is due to the hormone estrogen.  Roughly 80% of migraine sufferers have a family member that is diagnosed with them, as well.

Migraines may appear with no forewarning or could be caused by a trigger.  Triggers can present themselves in a variety of ways and it is important to know what your triggers may be in order to reduce future attacks.  Some common triggers are hormonal changes, stress, food, problems with sleep, medication, and environment changes (i.e. weather).  One way to monitor your triggers and look for possible trends is by keeping a journal.  Document dates of headaches, exposure to triggers, accompanying symptoms, and overall physical and emotional well-being during attack.  This documentation will help your physician know exactly how to treat your migraines.

Migraines can be treatment with several different options.  Over-the-counter pain relievers may be used to provide momentary relief, but don’t provide substantial support.  Your physician may prescribe pain relievers or even anti-depressants which are often used to combat migraine symptoms.  Alternative therapies and homeopathic remedies are sometimes sought by those preferring to avoid exposure to prescription drug medication.

How Can Hypnotherapy Help?

Before considering hypnotherapy for your migraines, it is essential to speak with your physician to ensure there isn’t an underlying healthy condition that is causing your migraines.  If so, that condition needs to be treated properly in order achieve desired results.  If your physician gives you the “go ahead” then you need to be educated on what exactly the option of hypnotherapy or hypnosis provides for your migraine symptoms.

Hypnosis allows the person and in-turn their body and mind the opportunity to shut down and relax.  Relaxation helps the restricted blood vessels that often cause headaches the opportunity to loosen and relieves the tightening feeling experienced during headaches.  Hypnotherapy provides an opportunity to learn about properly managing your pain and working through it or even altering your body’s perception on how bad the pain really might be.

Hypnosis follows the old saying, “mind over matter.”  Through the use of this technique, the mind can be trained to communicate differently with the body and ultimately, send fewer signals to the brain indicating weakened feelings of pain.  When you think about how powerful and busy our mind is, it makes it easier to understand how training our mind or taking “mind over matter” can do a lot in the area of our health.  For example, you body sends a signal that there is pain in your head, causing your brain to send a signal to your stomach explaining why you are nauseous, causing your stomach to send a signal indicating the reason for your dizziness, etc.  The responsibilities for communication to your body by the brain are profound.

If you are considering hypnotherapy for your migraine needs, keep in mind that it isn’t a quick or automatic “fix.”  Therapists recommend you participate in at least a 10 week course of sessions.   With each session you will work to identify possible symptoms of your headaches and ways to divert the pain before it has the opportunity to intensify.  Hypnotherapy also works with teaching you how to eliminate stress and hypnotherapy patients have much better and deeper sleep cycles, which are both common triggers.

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