A MIGRAINE IS NOT JUST A HEADACHE
A headache is just one of the possible symptoms of a migraine attack. Migraine is a prevalent and complex inherited neurological disorder of sensory processing. People with migraines have a genetic code variation that makes the networks in their brains hyper-excitable. That means the brain networks can react abnormally to things like diet, light, hormonal changes, noise and smells.
Migraine attacks are flare-ups or episodes which involve a combination of neurological symptoms like severe headache, nausea or vomiting and, in some cases, dizziness, numbness, weakness and vision problems. Migraines often start on one side of the head or behind an eye. They can last a few hours or over a week.
WHAT CAUSES MIGRAINES?
Studies show that changes in brain activity and chemicals released into the brain contribute to the onset of migraine. These changes cause swelling of blood vessels in the scalp and tissues around the brain, which means more blood pumps through the brain.
WHAT ARE MIGRAINE TRIGGERS?
Triggers are the things in our life that bring on a migraine. They can include things like alcohol (especially red wine), cheeses, chemicals (in perfume and petrol), chocolate, coffee, emotions (excitement, fatigue and stress), exercise, flickering lights, glare, heat, hunger, hormonal changes (periods, hormone pills and menopause) noise, nuts and relaxation.
WHAT ARE MIGRAINE SYMPTOMS?
You will recognise a migraine by the throbbing, pulsing pain that worsens with movement and everyday activities. Many migraine sufferers are light and noise sensitive. Some people experience blurred vision or flashing lights or numbness and tingling. Some people have terrible nausea before the migraine starts and some vomit.
WHAT HELPS RELIEVE THE PAIN
Most people with migraines head straight to a dark, quiet, cool room to lie down and sleep it off. Sometimes the pain is too severe to sleep, but it provides welcome relief when it is possible. Sometimes just placing a cool cloth on your forehead can offer a little comfort to a pulsating and throbbing head. Avoid orange juice, tea and coffee. Meditation and relaxing music can also help.
WHAT IS STRESS?
Stress is a natural human response from our body’s automatic nervous system and is helpful if your lives are in danger or at risk. Stress is what helps the appropriate actions follow. Our patients often describe stress as feelings of overload, overwhelm, pressure, tension, wound up tight and worried. Everyone feels stressed at some point in their life. Unfortunately, stress and overwhelm can have a detrimental effect on our health.
WHAT DOES STRESS DO TO OUR BODY AND MIND?
Excessive and ongoing stress is harmful to the body and the mind. Chronic stress can trigger emotional issues like anger, anxiety, depression, poor concentration and muscle tension. Stress can make us feel apathetic, forgetful, indecisive and hopeless. Stress can contribute to digestive issues, constipation and diarrhoea, infertility, headaches, high blood pressure, neck pain and sleep problems. Prolonged stress can make us accident-prone, over or underweight and nervous.
HOW CAN ACUPUNCTURE HELP WITH STRESS?
Acupuncture can help increase the synthesis and release of endomorphin, beta-endorphin, enkephalin, serotonin and oxytocin from the central nervous system. The release of these chemicals strengthens our resistance period to cope with stress. Put simply, by relaxing your nervous system, your brain will release the beneficial hormones and chemicals for optimal wellness.
TIPS TO BETTER MANAGE STRESS
Trouble sleeping, over or under-eating, teeth grinding, a tight jaw or feeling irritable or short-tempered and crying over little things are all signs of stress and overwhelm. Our Life Synergy tips can help you better manage the stress in your life.
- Avoid or reduce alcohol and nicotine. Alcohol and nicotine generally prolong more stress.
- Breathe. Focus on your breath. Breathe in, but also ensure you fully breathe out.
- Carve out activity time. Making time for the activities we enjoy is essential.
- Exercise regularly. Go for a walk or a bike ride. Yoga and tai chi can also be great activities to try.
- Make time to relax. We understand it can be tricky to prioritise your need to pause when we are overwhelmed. But our brains and bodies work so much better after we’ve stopped and welcomed this silence. Run a bath, read a book, pour yourself a cup of tea, and sit in the sun.
- Plan ahead. Carving out time for chores will make you feel less rushed in the mornings.
- Prepare nourishing meals. Our gut health is linked to our brain health, so make nutritious meals ahead of time to give your body the nutrients it needs to thrive.
- Set good sleep patterns. Go to bed at the same time each night and try to wake up at the same time.
- Set routines. Planning your day and week will make you feel calmer and more in control.
- Surround yourself with positive people. Spending time with people who bring you joy will make you feel better.
- Share your thoughts and feelings instead of bottling up thoughts and worries.
- Talk nicely to yourself. Be mindful of the ways you speak to yourself. Choose kindness for yourself.
The Importance of Proper Posture and Rhythmic Breathing to manage and prevent Thoracic Outlet Syndrome by Jonathan Yang
As we go about our busy days, we often neglect to think about the stress our actions and environments put on our bodies and the many complications that lack of thought creates for our health and well-being in the long term. There are so many things we can do as we go about our day that harm our posture.
Maybe we swing a heavy bag over our shoulder and carry it around all day, perhaps we are slouching over an iPhone or laptop studying or working, or maybe we are so stressed that we are not breathing right down to our belly.
I’d like to encourage you to make positive changes in your life to improve and maintain good posture.
Our physical health relies on good posture; when we neglect our posture, we may experience many uncomfortable complications.
When we continually slouch our shoulders forward, our head moves forward, and the weight of that puts a lot of pressure on the nerves, and this compression can lead to a condition called Thoracic Outlet Syndrome (TOS).
Thoracic Outlet Syndrome consists of various conditions produced by compression of nerves, arteries or veins because of an inadequate passageway through the thoracic outlet between the base of the neck and the armpit. (1)
Symptoms can vary, but when nerves are compressed, signs and symptoms include:
- Numbness or tingling in your arms or fingers.
- Pain or aches in your neck, shoulder, arm or hand and
- Weakening grip (2)
ON-GOING NERVOUS TENSION LEADS TO PHYSICAL PROBLEMS
Two systems work together to balance our bodies by involuntarily reacting to the environment around us. These are our sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, and they have opposite roles.
Our sympathetic nervous system is responsible for how our body reacts to danger and carries signals that put our body’s systems on alert. You’ve probably heard of the fight-or-flight response driven by your sympathetic nervous system. This response is your body’s reaction to danger, and it exists to help you survive stressful and life-threatening situations. When you go into fight-or-flight, you may feel tense or twitchy, your heart rate and blood pressure increase, your breathing goes up into your chest, your pupils dilate, and you feel on edge. Some people are so stressed out that they are in a constant state of fight-or-flight. This overload of sympathetic fibres causes body tension to build up, affecting posture and leading to headaches and migraines.
And our parasympathetic nervous system is responsible for maintaining homeostasis, our body’s built-in stability monitor – it carries signals that relax those systems. Your parasympathetic nervous system makes sure things are balanced. It is your rest and digest state: your breathing slows down and goes right down to your pelvic region, your heart rate decreases, your eyes contract, and your blood vessels relax. When more parasympathetic fibres are released, your body will experience more blissful and peaceful states. (3)(4)
THE CAR’S GAS AND BRAKES ANALOGY
Some people find a car analogy helpful to understand better how these two complex nervous systems work together. Think of your sympathetic nervous systems and your parasympathetic nervous systems like your car’s petrol and brakes. We need to use both effectively to run a car properly. You need your sympathetic nervous system (petrol) to keep you alive when actual danger is present. You also need your parasympathetic nervous system (brakes) to restore and relax so your body can run as usual. (4)
Suppose you find that your body is constantly reacting to everyday stress with the fight-or-flight response. In that case, it is a warning sign that your sympathetic and parasympathetic systems aren’t working harmoniously together.
Living in a prolonged state of high alert and stress can harm your physical and mental health.
TRY TO RELAX BECAUSE IF YOU DON’T, IT WILL IMPACT YOUR POSTURE
Prolonged and unmanaged stress causes significant complications for our physical and emotional health and puts tremendous on our posture.
Holding onto stress causes tension in our necks and shoulders. This can impact how we breathe, and if your diaphragm and pelvic floor muscles are not breathing, your body will generally be in a fight-or-flight mode, which can trigger anxiety and stress and lead to migraine.
LEARN TO BREATHE
When you breathe in, if your breath does not expand down to your lower abdomen and low back, it’s a sign the pelvic floor is not in play, and most of your breath will be in your chest. Breathing just in your chest stimulates our fight-or-flight response.
TRY THIS EXERCISE TO ACTIVATE BREATHING INTO YOUR PELVIC FLOOR
Clear space in front of your lounge, lay down on your back and put your legs up on the couch, so they are in a 90-degree position. Position your bottom at the base of the lounge. Put one hand on your chest and one on your tummy. The hand on your chest should not move, but when you breathe in, the hand on your stomach should move up. Make a beer belly with your inward breath. And then feel your hand drop down as you fully exhale. Start your day with this simple breathing exercise. There are many apps you can download to keep you on track.
REFERENCES:
- Exelby, G. Thoracic Outlet Syndrome (Costoclavicular Syndrome). 2022.
- Mayo Clinic Staff. mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/thoracic-outlet-syndrome/symptoms-causes/2022
- Cleveland Clinic medical staff. my.clevelandclinc.org/health/body/23262-sympathetic-nervous-system-sns-fight-or-flight/2022
- Cleveland Clinic medical staff. health.clevelandclinic.org/what-happens-to-your-body-during-the-fight-or-flight_response/2019
ADDITIONAL READING:
- Larsen, K. How to truly identify and treat thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS). 2017. https://trainingandrehabilitation.com/how-truly-treat-thoracic-outlet-syndrome/
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HOW ACUPUNCTURE HELPS PREVENT HEADACHES + MIGRAINES
A PODCAST BY DR ANDREW HUBERMAN
At Life Synergy, we love it when heroes of science support what we do.
And that’s why we are avid listeners of Doctor Andrew Huberman’s podcast. Dr Huberman is an American neuroscientist and Stanford University tenured associate professor in the department of neurobiology and psychiatry and behavioural sciences.
His Huberman Lab podcast is consistently ranked #1 in science, education and health and fitness categories and is often in the top 15 global podcasts.
If you suffer from tension headaches or migraines, we can highly recommend his podcast HOW TO STOP HEADACHES USING SCIENCE-BASED APPROACHES.
In this episode, Dr Huberman discusses the causes and treatments of different types of headaches and explains why acupuncture is an effective way to treat headache pain.
THE SCIENCE COMMUNITY IS STARTING TO UNDERSTAND WHY ACUPUNCTURE IS SUCCESSFUL IN TREATING MIGRAINES
You can jump straight to 02:01:35 if you want to listen to what he says about acupuncture helping people with headache pain. But here are Dr Huberman’s key messages:
“Now another way to approach treatment for headache is acupuncture. Acupuncture has been used to treat pain for thousands of years and has been used very successfully to treat headache. And the science community is starting to understand mechanistically why acupuncture is successful in treating migraines. There’s a laboratory at Harvard Medical School well known in the neuroscience community for doing excellent work around the mechanics of touch sensation and pain pathways.”
“In recent years this Harvard Medical School laboratory has done studies on how acupuncture works to alleviate painful headaches. And this work has been published in credible journals like ‘Nature’ and ‘Science’ and in those articles, it is explained that the precise insertion sites of needles lead to activation of sensory neurons and their pathways which can potently reduce inflammation and can reduce activity in certain muscles, for example in the forehead.”
“The needles are very fine, and the skilled acupuncturist can insert them so that the person doesn’t even feel it go in. But acupuncture has been shown to greatly reduce headache pain.”
“Thanks to 1000s of years of acupuncture, people in the West are starting to understand acupuncture really does work in the deactivation of the pain pathways and activation of muscle relaxation and in the activation of reduced inflammation.”
AN AUTHENTIC LIFE SYNERGY MIGRAINE TRANSFORMATION
“I spent 30 years battling crippling migraines that meant I had to take sick leave and couldn’t function as a person. After Jonny Yang’s migraine treatment plan at Life Synergy my nightmare migraines are now a distant memory.”
What is acupressure?
Acupressure is a simple massage technique you can do at home to help relieve pain and headaches. Acupressure is based on the traditional Chinese medicine practice of acupuncture. With acupressure, you put pressure on specific body parts called acupoints—all you need to do acupressure on yourself are your fingertips.
How does acupressure work?
In traditional Chine medicine, the smooth flow of Qi through the body is essential to health. Qi is the life force circling our bodies in 14 channels or meridians. Pressure points are spots along these energy channels that can help free the flow of Qi. Acupuncturists use the same pressure points, but they use needles instead of just pressing down on or massaging the point. Pressing down on acupoints can help our muscles relax and improve blood flow. A 2017 study from the Department of Neurology, Beijing Chaoyang Hospital, Capital Medical University in China found acupressure applied to points on the head and wrist may help reduce nausea related to migraine.
You can do acupressure on yourself
One of the beautiful things about acupressure is that you can do it on yourself. Use your thumb or index finger to massage the acupoint with deep and steady pressure. Massage the point in a circular or up-and-down motion. Be careful not to remove the thumb or finger from the skin. Massage the point for one to two minutes. Focus just on the massage pint while applying acupressure. Close your eyes and take slow, deep breaths. Repeat as needed.
Does acupressure cause any side effects?
Acupoints can be a little tender after the massage, so don’t worry if you feel some achiness afterwards. But if it hurts, stop massaging right away.
Pressure point LI-4
The Union Valley pressure point LI-4 (also called Hegu) can help with headache symptoms and some pain. You can find this point on the back of your hand between the base of your thumb and index pointer finger.
How to find pressure point LI-4
1. Position your hand so that your fingers are pointing up and the back of your hand is facing you.
2. Place the thumb of your other hand in the V space between your thumb and index finger. You can find pressure point LI-4 in the muscle walls between these two fingers. (If you have trouble finding it, squeeze your thumb and index finger together to create a slight bulge in the muscle between these fingers. The pressure point is at the highest point of the bulge).
3. Once you have found the pressure point, you can relax your hand and keep it in a comfortable position.
4. Using a firm circular motion, apply pressure to this point by pressing down on it with your thumb. Next, move your thumb in a circle while adding pressure. It doesn’t matter which way you move – to the left or the right.
5. Do this for 2 to 3 minutes. Be firm when applying pressure, but do not press so hard it hurts. You may feel aching or tenderness, but it should not be painful. If you feel any pain, you are pressing down too hard.
6. Repeat the same process on your other hand. You can press down on this point a few times daily until your symptoms improve.
Safety warning
In order to perform acupressure safely, it’s essential to keep a few things in mind. First, never do acupressure in areas with open cuts. Always avoid areas with redness and swelling. Finally, don’t activate this point if you think you are pregnant. If in doubt, seek the advice of a licenced acupuncturist trained in acupressure.
HAVE YOU JOINED A MIGRAINE SUPPORT GROUP?
Migraine is a disability
Migraine is a genetic disorder that causes our brains to overreact to sensory inputs like bright lights, loud noises, strong smells or even internal feedback from the body to the brain.
When our brains overreact to those sensory inputs, it causes a flood of naturally occurring chemicals that can cause physical symptoms like nausea, vomiting and terrible brain-splitting head pain.
A migraine headache pulsates and throbs and is usually on one side of the head and can be moderate or severe.
To be diagnosed with migraine, you need other symptoms like sensitivity to light, noise, smell, nausea, or vomiting.
Over 20 per cent of Australians, close to 5 million people, live with migraine.
More than 90 per cent of Australians who suffer from migraines cannot function normally during a migraine attack.
Migraine disorder is ranked globally as the 7th leading cause of disability and is, therefore, one of the most disabling conditions in the world.
Migraine Australia Support Groups
It can be good for us to connect with others who experience similar pain and discomfort, and life challenges. Support groups help us realise we are not alone.
Migraine Australia is a national advocacy organisation supporting all Australians and their families living with migraine. This organisation supports anyone living with migraine through its team and moderate a national Facebook general migraine chat group.
In December 2020, Migraine Australia established a Warrior Support Network of local online and face-to-face support groups. These friendly and non-judgemental groups provide much-needed support for the millions of Australians living with migraine. The Warrior Support Network organise meetups and social activities to help people with migraines make new friends and find in-person support. You can find the group closest to you at migraine.org.au/warriornetwork
Start your support group
If there’s not a group in your area, you can start one by emailing team@migraine.org.au