Migraine Management - Cure your migraines with hypnotherapy

For those that suffer from migraines, life can be extremely tough. Some migraine attacks can last for days and cause a number of debilitating side effects.

Making it almost impossible to function and carry out day-to-day tasks, many patients are also unable to drive, go to work, spend time with family and friends or even watch TV when experiencing a migraine. This is because migraine attacks can cause extreme sensitivity to light, noise and sound, with sufferers left with no option but to sleep and rest in a dark room.

What is a migraine?

Migraines can affect absolutely anyone, regardless of age, genetics or gender. Usually typified by a severe headache or throbbing pain on one side of the head, migraines affect one in five women and one in every 15 men, according to recent NHS figures. Caused by either a restriction of the blood vessels in the brain or an expansion of blood vessels causing blood flow to become restricted, migraines are a lot more common than you might think.

It’s not just the headache and throbbing pain that can be extremely debilitating, there is a long list of other symptoms that can occur, including sickness, sensitivity to light and sound, irritability and even auras.

What causes migraines?

Anyone can develop migraines at any stage of life. There are lots of triggers linked to the condition, including stress, fatigue, periods and reactions to certain foods and drinks.

How to treat a migraine

For many migraine sufferers, painkillers such as paracetamol or ibuprofen can effectively treat many of the symptoms of migraines. However, depending on the severity of your migraines, further medical help is sometimes required for strong pain management treatment.

Hypnotherapy and migraines

It’s not only over the counter medicines that have been proven to help treat and manage migraines. Hypnosis has proven to be a great alternative for treating and preventing chronic migraine headaches.

Whether your migraines are episodic or chronic, research has indicated that hypnosis is an effective method of treatment.

What is hypnotherapy?

Hypnotherapy is an alternative form of medicine which focuses on creating a state of

hypnosis in order to treat conditions. It has been used successfully in the treatment of migraines and many other health issues, such as anxiety or to change habits and behaviours.

How migraine hypnosis works

The vast majority of migraine attacks are caused by a restricted blood flow to the brain. Migraine hypnosis helps ease symptoms by normalising the blood flow.

Hypnosis can also help you to understand why your migraines are occurring. For example, you might be experiencing migraines as a result of being stressed at work or feeling burnt out, causing extreme tiredness. Hypnosis can help you to understand the message behind the pain and therefore, helps the body to alleviate and re-frame the pain, putting you back in control of your body and mind.

Migraine management for the future

The process of hypnotherapy involves patients reaching a level of complete and total relaxation, so that there is no tension affecting their mindset.

Once the patient is in a relaxed state, the following techniques are used:

• Blitz
• MI (Dynamic Mental Imagery)
• Non-Awareness Set
• Parts Integration
• Mind Bending Language
• Regression
• Revivification 

Revivification has been particularly effective in treating migraines, helping patients diminish pain by providing them with the resources they need to solve problems for themselves.

For example, when the onset of pain begins, patients are encouraged to change whatever they are doing so that they are not just waiting for the migraine to strike. This gives them a sense of power and motivates them to take charge of the situation. Pain is a huge part of a migraine and the majority of people believe that pain can be worsened due to their anticipation of the symptoms. This is why revivification is so effective.

Ultimately, revivification focuses on tapping into a pleasant memory to create a positive effect. When patients are placed into a better mindset, their focus changes and the way they handle and experience the pain is altered.

Patients that experience migraines can also find that practising meditation helps them place the mind into a relaxed state. With migraines widely associated with stress and tension, meditation can do wonders for preventing migraines and managing pain.

If you’re looking for migraine relief, hypnotherapy for migraines is definitely worth exploring.