Biofeedback Migraine Therapy

Scenario: A migraine attack launches against your very sanity. You know the symptoms, having lived through them for years, and you know that if this migraine is anything at all like your typical migraine that you will be, for all intensive purposes, out of action for the next several years. You reach for Excedrin Migraine or Advil Extra Strength, but you know at best it will only slightly lessen the earthquake inside your head.

Have you ever considered biofeedback migraine therapy? What is biofeedback? Simplistically speaking, biofeedback is a method by which a person learns to achieve control over a bodily function, such as muscle tension. By achieving this control a person can actually affect the flow of blood which leads to migraine pain.

What can you expect during a biofeedback session? First off, expect to look like some kind of mad science experiment. Since a biofeedback session is concerned with monitoring your body's functions, expect to have a multitude of wires attached to your body that then send information to a computer. Among the information that the computer will analyze: brain waves, temperature, heart rate, perspiration levels and muscle activity. Did you ever that Simpsons episode where cartoon versions of Mulder and Scully observe Homer Simpson under lab conditions where he has all kinds of wires attached to his body. In a biofeedback session you are Homer Simpson.

A biofeedback session is basically concerned with two things. Instructing you on how to become far more attuned to your body's physical changes, and learning how to subtly adjust those responses as a way to avoid any physical conditions associated with them. Like severe headaches caused by migraines, for example. A biofeedback migraine session normally takes anywhere from a half hour to an hour. The number of sessions required, however, can vary significantly, depending on your individual progress. Once you have learned how to use biofeedback therapy to treat your migraines, it's up to you to learn how to manage it without the machinery.