ALL the stresses of this modern day make for headaches, but for migraine sufferers, headaches are painful enough to stop them in their tracks. Powerful drugs have been the treatment of choice in the past, but alternative remedies now are giving some patients needed relief.
A migraine headache is an intense, throbbing pain that can cause nausea and sensitivity to light and sound. Physicians say it’s caused by swollen blood vessels around the brain and certain nerves in the brain; however, the exact cause of migraines is unknown.
Migraine headaches differ; for example, the most common kind just hurt, but some people experience an aura of feelings or sensations before an attack that can affect vision, speech and other senses. It can even affect one’s ability to speak.
Many of the alternatives do not cure migraines completely, but they still can be effective. Acupuncture and neuro-linguistics programming (NLP) sessions both are being employed with varying degrees of success.
Acupuncture is one of the Chinese remedies being used. According to the World Health Organization, acupuncture has been proven effective in relieving postoperative pain, nausea during pregnancy or resulting from chemotherapy and dental pain with extremely mild side effects. It also can alleviate anxiety, panic disorders and insomnia.
A practitioner at Jeddah’s Chinese Medication Center said acupuncture, which uses a set of specialized needles, is effective whenever there is a functional deficiency, including migraines as well as neuro-colon, asthma, back or neck pains.
There’s a hitch, however. Results may very according to a person’s age, sex or the length of the affliction.
“Acupuncture is almost 60 percent beneficial,” he said. “Those who used to suffer from migraine attacks three times a week sometimes see their panics decreased to once a week after a couple of sessions.”
Migraines, of course, affect the mind, and those wishing to use a little mind control to control migraines might want to consider neuro-linguistics programming or hypnosis.
According to trainer Rashaad Faqeeh, NLP and hypnosis sessions also could help. He said using certain techniques could definitely help reduce the pain. But the relief can be temporary, and after all, pain is your body’s way of telling you something’s wrong.
“It is a physical illness that requires the individual to look for the source that caused it,” Faqeeh said.
One practitioner did two sessions with his 17-year-old sister who was a migraine sufferer. He said she started to feel some relief from her tension during the first session.
“I tried to relate the tension’s release by holding her hand and releasing her fingers one after the other,” said Saad Al-Matrafi, NLP practitioner and big brother. For now, it seems to be working. “Thank God, she’s not suffering from it any more.”
Al-Matrafi told of an emergency NLP session for a speaker at a medical conference.
“She had a migraine attack, and she couldn’t start her speech,” he said. “Several doctors advised her to stay in the dark for a while and gave her some pills; however, nothing worked.” Enter NLP. “She felt a big relief for the first time,” after a quick NLP session, Al-Matrafi said.
An article reviewed by the Neuroscience Center at the Cleveland Clinic reported other alternatives to treat migraines, including massage, herbs, essential oils or a good diet.
In China, traditional herbal preparations account for 30 percent-50 percent of all the medicine consumed. Even if herbal preparations don’t work for you, they probably won’t hurt your, either.
“When we use the term alternative medication, it usually means that if it doesn’t provide the patients with positive results it won’t be harmful when prescribed by a professional expert,” said the man at the Chinese Medication Center. “This is why it is safe to prescribe it.”
