Mindfulness techniques may help ease migraine, study says
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Researchers say mindfulness may help some people better deal with migraine pain. Photo by kizzzbeth/Flickr
A mind-body practice that combines meditation and yoga might help people better manage migraine pain, a new clinical trial finds.
The trial, which tested the effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction, or MBSR, found that the approach helped relieve migraine sufferers depression and disability. It also boosted how they rated their quality of life.
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MBSR is a standardized, eight-week program developed in the 1970s. It combines meditation and gentle yoga postures, with the goal of shifting people s responses to stress, including body pain.
This Is Why You re Getting Way More Headaches Than Usual Morgan Noll
We can all agree that 2020 has been one big headache of a year, but for some, this sentiment is rather literal. During the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, headache experts have noticed a 20% increase in the number of headaches and migraines reported due to increased levels of stress and a number of lifestyle changes. Charisse Litchman, M.D., FAHS a neurologist, headache specialist, and medical advisor to Nurx tells HelloGiggles that she s seen these reports from those who already suffered from migraines or headaches pre-pandemic and from those who didn t. She calls the pandemic a perfect storm for headaches, explaining that fluctuations in stress, hormones, diet, sleep patterns, and increased screen time in other words, everything we ve been experiencing this past year can all be triggers.
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An estimated 39 million Americans have migraine, with symptoms that can range from mild to severe, according to the Migraine Research Foundation. Migraine attacks previously were thought to be a result of abnormal dilation of blood vessels in the brain, but scientists now believe that the cause may be more complex and involve inherited differences in brain chemistry.
Women are much more likely than men to have migraine, as are people with a family history of migraine, according to the Migraine Research Foundation.
But not all migraine attacks are alike, and not everyone has the same migraine symptoms, says neurologist Alexander Mauskop, MD, a founder and director of the New York Headache Center in Manhattan and White Plains, New York.
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Both migraine and cluster headache tend to affect primarily one side of the head, but cluster headache typically causes a runny nose and tearing eye in addition to pain.
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Whether you’re having a migraine attack or a cluster headache, the pain it causes can be debilitating.
But because the treatments for the two diseases are very different, it’s crucial to figure out which you have or whether you have something else entirely to have the best chance at easing your pain.
Without the correct diagnosis, it’s difficult to find relief for your headache, says Merle L. Diamond, MD, associate director of the Diamond Headache Clinic in Chicago.