This week is Migraine Awareness week, named as the 3rd most common condition with an estimated 1 in 7 people globally living with migraine symptoms daily, including myself.
- 32% almost a third say migraines negatively affect their mental health•
- 72% of children with migraine say that it makes them feel worried
- 30% three in ten say migraine negatively affects their working life
Migraines are commonly dismissed as ‘just a headache”, despite being a complex & debilitating neurological condition. I know for those living with migraines it can have a significant impact on your daily quality of life, impacting mental health, relationships, education & ability to work.
Migraines have many triggers, they can be hereditary or individual bought upon by stress, sleep quality, fluctuating hormones, the weather, food (lack of or specific types) & so much more. Symptoms can include:
- Frequent, persistent, debilitating headaches lasting hours or days
- Light, sound or smell sensitivity
- Nausea & vomiting
- Tiredness & low energy
- Inability to concentrate & brain fog
- Anxiety about future migraine attacks
- Enhanced stress & being unsure how to cope
- Missing social events or work absenteeism due to attack severity
Keeping a migraine diary can help identify your triggers, duration of attack, & whether you’ve experienced any aura, if your hearing or vision have been effected, & any heightened sense of smell, medication (type & dosage) & what worked to relieve your attack. Always seek support from your GP if your symptoms become more frequent or severe to rule out any underlying concerns.
If any of those symptoms sound all too familiar, whilst painkillers & medication can help to suppress the pain, the symptoms often return. If your medication isn’t having the desired effect anymore, maybe it’s time to consider a holistic approach to finding relief from your migraine symptoms & frequency of attacks whilst tackling stress or anxiety at the same time?
Hypnotherapy is an important treatment for migraine symptoms & pain management. I, & my clients who suffer, have found psychotherapy helpful in identifying triggers & coping mechanisms, whilst hypnotherapy & mindfulness are extremely beneficial in managing stress & anxiety, whilst reducing symptoms & frequency of attacks, experiencing a better quality of life. Working with your unconscious mind hypnosis helps to relax you allowing you to regain control, easing feelings of pain & nausea, changing the way you think & feel by rewiring your neural pathways.
Now when we talk about pain there are two different types: acute or chronic.
Acute pain, is short term, typically caused by temporary illness or accident. Whilst chronic, or long term pain, may not have an obvious cause or may stem from a medical condition such as migraines or cluster headaches.
Focusing on your mind body connection, hypnotherapy can help to reduce or alleviate long term pain by managing your stress or anxiety levels.
When you feel pain over a prolonged period of time, it can understandably cause you to feel more stressed or anxious. Over time your mind can link how you’re feeling mentally with how you’re feeling physically, in other words if you’re feeling particularly stressed or anxious the perception of how much pain your experiencing can often feel even worse.
By reducing your levels of stress & changing your thought patterns around pain, you can alter your perception of it. Through hypnosis your subconscious mind is open to the power of suggestion, thus allowing for direct suggestions that encourage pain relief, help you to manage your fear & anxiety relating to your pain, as well as promoting relaxation, reducing your overall stress & anxiety levels.
Utilising the power of visualisation is another technique can help refocus your mind at the onset of a migraine attack. Practising visualisation can help to distract your mind to something more pleasant whilst encouraging neuroplasticity, reinforcing new positive habits, breaking unhealthy patterns & beliefs whilst promoting feelings of well-being, calm & relaxation.
Visualisation enables you to explore how you would like to feel step by step through to achieving your desired outcome. It may sound a bit woo woo however it’s a trusted method widely used by champion athletes before any event.
Working with you I can help you identify your individual triggers, work towards alleviating your stressors, whilst facilitating your identified solutions & coping strategies. Enabling enhanced feelings of control over your situation, frequency & severity of symptoms.
It’s worth noting that the effects of hypnotherapy can vary from person to person, & there should be a willingness to make positive change. Your unconscious mind doesn’t know the difference between imagination & reality, so if you can see it you have the power to achieve it.
Visualisation & hypnosis offer you a holistic, side effect free, complementary method of helping to manage your chronic pain whilst changing your outlook.
Solution focused clinical hypnotherapy is a very gentle brief therapy, with positive results experienced in a short space of time enabling lasting positive change. The SFH technique helps you reconnect with all your inner skills & resources so you can successfully shift your perspective from the problem to the solutions.
For further information on how I can assist you to ease your migraines or for any other support please get in touch, I offer a FREE 45 minute initial consultation where we’ll discuss your symptoms, frequency & how I can support you with a bespoke treatment plan.
Take care and have a wonderful weekend.
Jane x