Migraine and Hypnosis: What Research Shows

Anyone who suffers from migraines knows it's no fun. If you have to choose between banging your head against the wall and a migraine attack, you know it. Hup that head against the wall. There are medications for migraine attacks, but those have side effects and they don't help your psychological symptoms that you get from migraines.

Fortunately, much research has been done on other techniques to suffer less from migraines and what turns out, right! Hypnosis helps

What is a migraine attack?

Migraines are generally a type of headache that stings and is behind your eye. Some people also get what is called an aura when they suffer from a migraine attack. The vision in your field of vision then becomes partially (or in severe cases completely) blurred and distorted. As if you are watching a broken television.

There are multiple types of migraine; for example, some people only suffer from the aura but not the headache.

In severe cases, a migraine attack can also cause weakening and even paralysis of half the body. Or people may actually start talking with a slurring tongue and find it difficult to coordinate their bodies properly.

Suffering from migraine attacks can therefore also cause major psychological symptoms.

Psychological effect of migraines

Migraines impair a patient’s social and occupational functioning. Unfortunately, psychological factors can also contribute to the onset of a migraine attack or to how the attack unfolds. This can lead to a kind of vicious cycle, especially if you’re under a lot of stress.

It was already known in 1995 that people who suffer from migraine attacks consider their lives less prosperous even between attacks than people without migraine symptoms.

In addition, people who suffer from migraines are more likely to experience emotional stress, are less satisfied with life, have lower energy levels, and sleep less well than people without these symptoms.

This is incredibly unfortunate, because why should migraine attacks affect your life the moment they are not there?

It is therefore not at all surprising that just over half of people with migraine attacks are interested in treatment with hypnosis. All sorts of things are tried just to keep you from feeling sick.

Migraine treatments

Fortunately, many non-medication treatments are also available for migraine attacks. Research shows that hypnosis, relaxation techniques, biofeedback and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) help improve the well-being and symptoms of migraineurs.

The great thing is that in all of these treatment methods, hypnosis can enhance or support treatment.

Hypnosis and biofeedback

In the case of biofeedback, body data is measured, such as how fast you breathe, the tension in your muscles, your blood pressure and even your brain activity. You are then given advice on how to normalize your body functions if this shows that something is not right.

In the case of high blood pressure, this may involve adjustments to your diet or stress levels, and hypnosis can support you in achieving your goals in both areas.

Hypnosis and relaxation techniques

Relaxation techniques help against migraines. This is because relaxation reduces stress, and stress can be a trigger for a migraine attack.

One technique recommended for emergencies is progressive muscle relaxation. This can be done, for example, through a total body scan. This mindfulness technique combines well with hypnosis.

Guided visualization can make mindfulness body scan easier. This helps to promote relaxation and exercise more muscle control.

Another simpler relaxation technique is breathing calmly through the abdomen. This technique is also named in the case study on hypnosis treatment for someone who suffered from migraine attacks and anxiety. You can also start with this technique before performing the body scan.

Hypnosis and CBT

Cognitive behavioral therapy is very popular and widely used by coaches and psychologists. There are a variety of techniques used during cognitive behavioral therapy. The therapy focuses on your thoughts because what you think often determines what you do.

Multiple studies show that if the therapy is applied while the person seeking to solve a problem is under hypnosis the therapy has faster and longer-lasting results.

A technique that is very popular in cognitive behavioral therapy is the Socratic conversation. In this conversation, the why question is repeated several times to get to the heart of your beliefs, for example, about the beliefs you have about the impact of migraines between attacks.

By performing this technique under hypnosis, you get to the heart of the matter faster and also dare to express unconscious thoughts faster. This can bring up triggers, such as certain fears, that you won't be so quick to share when you're not under hypnosis. While this does further help you get rid of migraine attacks.

Hypnosis also helps against migraines

In the aforementioned case study, clear techniques are used to reduce the pain ofmigraine. Initially, the patient is asked how bad the pain is on a scale of 1 to 10. This is important to determine the starting point of therapy.

They then ask which color the pain is associated with and which color belongs to the person with migraine when calming and relaxing.

After a relaxation exercise with breathing, hypnosis is deepened by breathing in the color with good relaxing energy and breathing out the color with negative energy. This helps to initiate visualization (an important part in hypnosis).

Then the visualization can begin that really helps reduce pain. By visualizing buttons with numbers from 1 to 10, the patient can "push" a button lower than the indicated pain in order to reduce the pain that way.

Then you can get another post-hypnotic suggestion to think of a particular word or object that will help you calm down if you suffer from pain after hypnosis.

The case study found that after 2 weeks, the subject had significantly less migraine attacks than before hypnosis.

Washing away the pain with warm water

Another technique used in this study is the visualization that pain can be reduced with warm water. Before this visualization, it is important to first perform relaxation exercises and a guided visualization of a nice place, such as a beautiful garden or the beach.

Then the real visualization begins, such as:

"Visualize your body floating in a cloud. See how warm water sits in your body, focusing on the places in your body that cause pain and stress. See before you how those places become soft and relaxed by the warm water in which they are bathed and in the light and color of relaxation. With each breath you take you feel less discomfort and the places of tension and pain become smaller."

This is just an example that roughly matches the visualization used in the study, depending on your own interests and symptoms you may get a different visualization. In the case study, this visualization caused migraine attacks to stay away for a week.

Self-hypnosis for home

In addition to hypnosis with a therapist, it is important to perform self-hypnosis at home. This in fact reinforces and prolongs the results of therapy. In the case of pain, visualizations are incredibly important because this helps with relaxation which often eliminates pain triggered by stress.

Each self-hypnosis session begins with a relaxation exercise. You then focus first on breathing through the abdomen. Here you make sure you breathe in and out for the same amount of time. Then you relax your muscles and you can start with a visualization. For example, you can visualize how you are relaxing in the park, how the sun is warming your skin, how small insects are buzzing around you (and in the visualization without being irritating) and how you smell the wonderful scent of freshly cut grass.

Visualization allows you to daydream to relax.

In addition, depending on your symptoms, you can also receive hypnotic suggestions to repeat during self-hypnosis or to listen to via an MP3 file. These may, for example, address the impact of migraines between attacks, such as:

"I live in the here and now."

"I don't have to worry about the future."

"I can enjoy the little things."

"I am grateful for what I have."

These are just examples. Depending on your beliefs and problems with migraines, you may get other suggestions from a hypnotist.

Would you like to learn more about exactly how hypnosis works and how you can use it to help others or yourself? Then come to a workshop or sign up for the training program.

Sources:

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/1129-2377-16-S1-A86

https://einstein.pure.elsevier.com/en/publications/psychological-considerations-in-the-migraine-patient

http://n.neurology.org/content/88/16_Supplement/P2.168.short

http://www.hypnosisaustralia.org.au/wp-content/uploads/10330_AJCEH_2016_FINAL.pdf#page=67

This article describes practical experiences and insights and is not medical advice. Hypnosis is not a substitute for medical or psychological treatment: if you have symptoms, always consult your primary care physician or healthcare provider first.