Migraine - causes, treatment and 3 top exercises
Reading time: 8 minutes
Around ten percent of the population suffer from the neurological disorder of migraine. It occurs about three times more often in women than in men. Unbearable and throbbing headaches combined with nausea, vomiting and neurological deficits can be signs of an existing migraine.
Contents
How do migraines occur?
How is a migraine different from a headache?
When is it a migraine?
Where does migraine come from?
How do I know if I have a migraine?
What triggers a migraine?
What helps with migraines?
How do neuroathletic exercises help with migraines?
3 Neuroathletic Exercises for Migraines
Conclusion: Understanding migraines and counteracting them
How do migraines occur?
The number of patients suffering from migraines has risen steadily in industrialized countries over the last four decades. This is why this neurological disease is even considered a disease of civilization, along with diabetes mellitus, obesity, respiratory diseases and cardiovascular diseases.
Based on so-called twin studies, it is assumed that the susceptibility to migraines is inherited. However, the actual occurrence of the disease depends on other factors. Such a hereditary predisposition is suspected in around 50 to 60 percent of affected women and 40 percent of affected men.
How is a migraine different from a headache?
Human brain cells react to a wide range of external stimuli, such as sounds, light or temperature changes, in a specific, individual way. These reactions are measurable, as is the brain's "anticipation tension". If the neuronal cells are repeatedly exposed to such stimuli, they usually become accustomed to them and the anticipation tension decreases or normalizes.
This is not the case with a migraine patient. Due to the lack of habituation and the resulting lack of reduction in anticipation, the brain of those affected is very easily aroused even between migraine attacks. This suggests that the brain cells of a migraine sufferer are constantly particularly sensitive to certain stimuli, and the reactions to these are also much stronger than normal. This could explain the frequent sensitivity to light between migraine attacks.
Another theory on the origin of migraines assumes that external factors such as stress, changes in hormone levels, changes in the weather, etc., lead to a short-term, temporary constriction of the blood vessels in the brain and meninges in migraine sufferers. This is followed by dilation of the blood vessels and increased blood flow in the scalp and face area. This extreme stretching of the veins then manifests itself as a pulsating headache.
When is it a migraine?
According to another view, a migraine attack begins with an overactivity of nerve cells in the brain stem. This activity irritates the fibers of the trigeminal nerve, whose finest branches reach into the walls of all cerebral blood vessels and thus transmit pain signals to the brain. This in turn leads to the release of various messenger substances that cause the blood vessels to dilate and make the vessel walls more permeable. This causes a temporary, painful neurogenic inflammation in the immediate vicinity of the veins, which is caused by nerve impulses, not by bacteria or viruses.
This vascular inflammation in turn increases the sensitivity to pain so much that the blood pulse is perceived as a pulsating, throbbing headache. Other areas of the brain are also activated by the pain, which explains other migraine symptoms such as nausea and vomiting, as well as sensitivity to light and noise.
Where does migraine come from?
According to the current state of science, it has been clearly proven that a migraine center in the brain, as has long been suspected, does indeed exist. With the help of special procedures, an area in the brain stem with increased blood flow can be identified during an acute migraine attack, which doctors refer to as the "migraine generator". This area of the brain is activated by an overload of stimuli due to the hypersensitivity to certain stimuli typical of migraines and then triggers a migraine attack.
How do I know if I have a migraine?
For most migraine sufferers, a migraine attack occurs without any warning signs or preceding perceptual disturbances. It strikes those affected suddenly and seemingly unexpectedly with pulsating headaches that may last up to seventy-two hours. Daylight becomes almost unbearable and the intensity of smells and noises increases suddenly.
For these reasons, those affected instinctively seek out a quiet and less brightly lit room. In addition, the excruciating pain is often accompanied by nausea and vomiting. Tiredness and exhaustion, but also constipation and cravings for a certain food are also possible symptoms.
Some sufferers can recognize a migraine attack before the severe headache sets in. The signs of an impending migraine can vary greatly and vary from person to person. Psychological, neurological and autonomic abnormalities can occur several days beforehand.
Some patients also suffer from the so-called "migraine aura" that occurs before the headache. It lies like a dark veil over the head and causes visual disturbances (one-sided vision), speech disorders, hearing loss and other neurological symptoms. These include, for example, motor deficits such as a significant loss of strength in the arms and legs and unpleasant sensory disturbances in the extremities. Some patients have severe movement disorders and even paralysis due to the sudden weakness in the extremities. The migraine aura phase usually disappears completely before the pain first appears.
The neurological and very unpleasant disorders associated with migraine attacks are completely reversible. After an attack, no symptoms remain.
What triggers a migraine?
The increase in migraine cases in recent decades has strengthened the assumption that migraines can be negatively influenced and triggered by environmental factors, distress, lack of sleep and an unhealthy diet . However, hormonal fluctuations in women, especially during the menstrual cycle, sudden changes in the weather or even smells can also be triggering factors for migraines.
In addition, a connection can often be made between the consumption of a certain food or beverage and the onset of a migraine. Patients particularly cite alcohol, coffee or certain types of cheese as triggers.
Other possible causes of migraines can be muscular tension and the resulting blockages throughout the body. In particular, muscle hardening in the shoulder and neck area, combined with blocked joints in the skull, cervical spine and jaw, can trigger migraines. Misalignments of the feet (flat feet, fallen arches) should also be taken into consideration. Deviations in the lower extremities can also cause problems in the upper parts of the body and even initiate tension headaches or migraines.
Psychological stress can also trigger a migraine attack. If your own fears and worries become too great and take over, a migraine attack can flare up in the affected person in a very short time.
>> Reading tip: How to breathe properly when you have a headache or stress
What helps with migraines?
Keep a migraine diary
Since the causes of a migraine seem to have many faces, everyone affected should keep a migraine diary in order to find out for themselves which stimulus triggers or even exacerbates the symptoms. Since not every body reacts immediately to the triggering stimuli, but only several hours or even days later, a carefully kept diary is indispensable in the search for the cause.
Younger people in particular should pay more attention to mental and emotional stimuli. For example, heartbreak and the search for oneself can lead to a flooding of the brain, especially as a young adult.
Be sure to see a doctor
A neurologist should definitely be consulted when clarifying the pain attacks in the head. Due to the different types of migraines and the different symptoms associated with them, there are a variety of treatment and therapy options that are best examined and determined by a doctor.
There is also the possibility that a more serious illness is hidden behind these recurring pain attacks. To rule this out, the cause of the symptoms should be clarified as quickly as possible.
Physiotherapy against migraines
If the treating physiotherapist determines that the migraine problem may be caused by a physical imbalance, he or she can treat it using various treatment techniques. Depending on the localized area of the body causing the pain, treatment options tailored to the individual patient can be offered and applied.
Manual therapy gently and successfully resolves muscle imbalances and possible joint blockages. The special form of manual therapy for migraines is Kern treatment. This is used specifically in acute and chronic disease processes and also prophylactically.
A more holistic approach can be used to achieve good results with osteopathic treatments. An osteopath feels and recognizes possible energy blockages in a comprehensive and comprehensive manner, releases them and gets them flowing again.
Trigger point treatment is also a promising treatment for migraines. Even muscles that are far removed from pain can be the source of pain. For example, certain neck muscles are treated intensively, which can radiate pain into the head when tense.
Specific massage techniques such as those from Asian Thai massage, or the treatment of the meridians with acupressure, are ways to confront the debilitating and recurring migraine.
Exercise and relax
The physiotherapist will determine the right form of therapy for each patient and then apply it. In addition, the patient should ideally do some form of sport in their free time.
Those affected, who have a rather static and one-sided professional activity, should give their body enough relaxation and balance and create space for themselves. Relaxation techniques also offer the opportunity to bring body and soul into harmony. Autogenic training can also be learned in physiotherapy. Yoga and progressive relaxation according to Jacobsen, for example, are among the techniques that allow those affected to learn a body feeling for the alternation between tension and relaxation.
How do neuroathletic exercises help with migraines?
Article by physician and neuroscientist Hady Daboul
Which areas of the brain should be developed and strengthened varies from person to person. In the training, we use simple movement tests to find out exactly that. Among other things, we are currently using the approach in our app "heyvie" (Download: Google Play | App Store ) for use in migraines.
The eyes, balance system and neck muscles work closely together. No other muscle in the body can move as precisely as our eyes. However, if our neck is unstable and our balance system is not accurate, our eyes cannot develop their full potential. They have to perform extremely precise movements on a shaky foundation, so to speak.
The result: visual stimuli are overwhelming. This is where neurocentric training comes into play. Through targeted stimulation and structural work on central structures, systems around the neck, eyes and balance are stabilized. Visual stimuli are no longer overwhelming to the same extent and attacks can be reduced - in both frequency and intensity.
How does this work exactly?
Roughly speaking, movement is based on three pillars. Firstly, the work that our eyes and thus the visual system do; then proprioception, i.e. the ability to know the position of our body in space; and finally balance - the knowledge of orientation in relation to gravity and the control of muscles that allow us to stand upright against it.
If we want to reach for the cup of coffee with our hand, the movement plan that our brain has created must be carried out. To do this, we need to know where our hand is in space, which means the proprioceptive system is used. We need to be able to estimate the distance between our hand and the cup of coffee so that our grasping movement is precise and we don't spill the coffee all over our desk because we think it is further away.
The visual system estimates distance through depth perception. At the same time, our spine must be stabilized. The movement of our hand changes our body's center of gravity. Small movements on the outside of the body in particular have a strong impact on the center of the body due to the large lever.
So what happens when information from the respective systems is missing and how can these systems be systematically built up? An example: We are missing information on our right wrist. We have a scar due to an old injury and the feeling above the scar is reduced. The consequence: Our brain no longer knows 100% where our wrist is in space. So instead of tilting the wrist as we reach for our cup of coffee, we may move the whole arm from the elbow and shoulder joint. In this way, we unconsciously avoid the tilting movement of the wrist.
Anything that could compromise our safety and physical integrity is a danger in the first place and is avoided if possible. If we lack information about our wrist, our brain cannot predict what will happen if we move it. Following the motto "better safe than sorry", our brain adjusts the movement so that we do not have to move our wrist. In this way, our physical integrity is maintained in the first place and we do not have to deal with situations that we cannot predict. For our brain, this means safety.
From a purely energetic point of view, it takes a lot more effort to move the whole arm instead of tilting the small wrist. It simply uses more energy.
We don't just have one system that we have to compensate for, but several. Although these systems work redundantly and can take over parts of the other's work, this compensation is exhausted at a certain point. The consequences: pain, immobility or even illnesses such as migraines.
How does this help people with migraines?
When we treat people who suffer from migraines, we often start with the proprioception and surface sensitivity of the neck. If we are not able to consciously feel and move our neck adequately, the reflexive control that we rely on is impaired. We therefore teach our customers to control their neck muscles precisely.
The goal of the whole thing: relearning movements that may no longer have been performed because the brain blocked these movements for safety reasons. Similar to the tilted wrist, we often see a lack of control in the neck muscles in migraine sufferers.
How can neuroathletic training help with migraines?
Proprioception is ultimately the ability to receive and process information from the periphery of the body in order to then know where the individual limbs are in space.
Neurocentric training looks at all the steps from information acquisition and processing to the creation and execution of movement and checks where exactly compensation is taking place. Resolving these compensation mechanisms has great potential, both for movement and pain problems.
Download Whitepaper: NTC for Migraine >
3 Neuroathletic Exercises for Migraines
Many people suffer from migraines and tension headaches. Those who spend a lot of time in front of a screen in particular often suffer from migraine-like headaches, tired eyes or even visual disturbances. Neuroathletics trainer Kevin Grafen shows you the best neuroathletics exercises you can do for these types of problems in the video below.
Exercise 1: Head massage
For the first exercise, move your hands, or more precisely the tips of your index and middle fingers, along the right and left sides of the spine on the neck until you feel the edge of the skull. The muscles that attach there are often extremely tense and can trigger migraines and tension headaches. Now massage in a circular motion to the right and left with a pressure that is just comfortable for around ten to fifteen repetitions each. Both sides, of course! Then move one hand a little further into the middle and a little higher - you can see exactly where that is in the video. There is a tendon attachment there, which you also massage in a circular motion with light pressure.
Exercise 2: Eye massage
What very few people know: We often get migraines because the eyes send too much information to our brain, which then overloads the brain. With an active eye massage like in exercise two, where the lower and then the upper edge of the eye is massaged on both sides with light pressure, the eyes and brain can relax immediately. After the massage, both hands are placed over the eyes for about a minute, darkening the eyes, which ensures even deeper relaxation.
Exercise 3: Relaxation
For the third exercise, Kevin makes use of the effect of color on the eyes and brain. Green light waves have a relaxing effect, which means that the green colored glasses from neuroathletics can not only relieve headaches immediately, but can also be used preventively almost anywhere in everyday life. Anyone who often suffers from migraine-like headaches knows that it's worth a try!
Conclusion: Understanding migraines and counteracting them
Migraine is more than just a headache. It is a complex neurological disease that significantly affects the daily lives of millions of people. But the more we learn about the causes and mechanisms of migraine, the better we can take targeted measures to mitigate its effects. The combination of scientific research and innovative training methods, such as those found in neuroathletics, offers new perspectives and promising approaches for those affected.
With carefully kept migraine diaries, physiotherapy treatments and individual neuroathletic exercises, we can not only find relief, but also reduce the frequency and intensity of migraine attacks. It is clear: A deeper understanding of the interaction between head and body, coupled with targeted training sessions, opens up new ways to combat migraines.
Be inspired by the possibilities of neuroathletics and discover how a training routine tailored to your individual needs can sustainably improve your quality of life. Stay tuned, stay curious and always remember - your path to recovery begins in your head.