Even though a number of medications is available for the treatment of headaches nowadays, not everyone can benefit from it for a number of reasons:
- People experience the side effects differently. For some, the side effects far outweigh the benefits they could derive from taking the medication.
- Some people are unable to take medications for their headaches because these medications conflict with medications they are taking for other medical conditions.
- People have different responses to the same medication. Thus, there are people who may not respond well to the same headache medication taken by others.
- Pregnant women prone to headaches are advised against taking migraine medications.
- People who have been using painkillers for a prolonged period of time often find themselves not responding to headache medications anymore.
- There are people who dislike taking headache medications in tablet form.
Because of this, an increasing number of people who need help are searching for complementary or alternative remedies for headache relief.
Alternative or Complementary
Alternative remedies are usually employed as an outright replacement for mainstream medicine, while complementary remedies can be used alongside conventional medication.
Hypnosis
Hypnosis mainly involves putting the patient in a state of deep relaxation while listening to the hypnotist’s instructions. In this fully relaxed state, the patient is more open to outside influence, receiving suggestions on how they can control their headaches. If the patient follows his or her own instructions, it is then known as self-hypnosis.
Suggestions Under Hypnosis
The hypnotist will generally provide methods of distraction that the person can use to shift attention away from the headache, such as decreasing the sensations of pain. For instance, the suggestion could be that at the first sign of pain, the person should start visualizing the tight and painful muscles of his neck gently unknotting and relaxing.
Suggestions on how to cope may also be helpful, similar to remaining calm when the patient feels a headache is coming on. This kind of therapy can be effective in preventing a person from being tense once they feel that a headache is about to start, because once the muscles are tense, it can lead to a headache.
Relaxation Works
Hypnosis can be effective in increasing relaxation and stress management, which are two factors that are applied to lower the occurrence and severity of headaches. Studies show that people who never worry about their headaches and have more confidence to control them do not suffer as much as those who are fearful and don't know how to deal with it.
Some Proof that Hypnosis Works
The potential of hypnosis as a treatment for headaches has not yet been extensively studied. But in one study, some interesting results were shown where the headache sufferers had their monoamine oxidase, or MAO, levels checked. MAO makes a naturally occurring chemical called serotonin available for the body to use. Generally, people suffering from depression have low serotonin levels. After hypnosis, the serotonin levels were checked, and they were discovered to be the same as those who were taking medication to prevent their headaches, which means that a positive internal chemical change had at least taken place.
Another study done in Holland revealed that tension headache sufferers who were given training in self-hypnosis showed an improvement. However, the improvements were found to be similar to the improvements gained from doing simple relaxation exercises.
Trying Out Hypnosis
The results of these studies suggest that hypnosis can be just as effective as learning simple relaxation techniques. So it seems that it does not really matter which form of therapy you try out, as they both provide the same outcomes.
For more help on the prevention, treatment and remedies for migraines please see the Complete Guide To Migraine Headaches.
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