Everything You Need to Know About Migraine and its Therapy Yoga Treatment
- Migraine, tension-type headache, and cluster headache are the three most prominent primary headache types.
- Headache is one of the common disorders of the nervous system.
- According to a WHO report, at least 50% of the adult population suffered from at least one episode of headache in the last year.
- Headaches, generally recurrent in nature, apart from the burden of pain, also add to a disability, low quality of life, and financial burden.
- The headache starts typically in the teenage or 20s, and relatively more females are affected than males.
- Medication overuse headache is an emerging entity that is due to the overuse of medication for treating headache.
- Stress can be associated with a trigger or precipitant for common headache types, especially migraine and tension-type headaches.
Symptoms of Migraine
One-sided recurrent and pulsating headache
Feeling of tightness or pressure in the head
Redness of eye and blockage of nose
Our Approach to Migraine Treatment with Therapy Yoga
Therapy Yoga for Migraine Treatment
Deep relaxation remains the mainstay for the management of headaches from a yoga therapy perspective. This can be helpful for the prevention of the episode of headache as well as for managing the acute attack.
It is also reported that many yoga practices (especially pranayama and meditation) can worsen the problem when done inappropriately.
Our yoga team of expert researchers, consultants, and therapists at Prakash Nethralaya and Panchakarma Kendra focus on individualistic approaches in planning yoga therapy.
Yoga Practices Useful for Migraine
Body, Breath & Mind Synchronisation
Standing postures
Sukshma Vyayama, tadasana, Ardhakati Chakrasana, Ardha Chakrasana, Tiryaka Tadasana, Kati Chakrasana
Sitting postures
Vajrasana, Vakrasana
Prone postures
Bhujangasana, Ardha Shalabhasana
Supine postures
Setubandhasana, Ardha Pawanmuktasana, Shavasana
Pranayama
Nadi Shuddhi Pranayama, Bhramari Pranayama
Frquently Asked Questions on Migraine
Different headache types have different etiology and pathogenesis. Inflammatory substances around nerves and blood vessels in the brain, stress, and musculoskeletal problems of the neck are prominent reasons behind headache episodes.
Whether a particular type of headache is curable depends on its specific etiopathology. Stress being a major trigger and precipitant, if controlled, can better control the disease process in many types of headaches.
"Pain will not decrease without taking a pain-killer during an acute episode of headache." Relaxation techniques or sleep can be helpful for patients during the acute phase of headache.
Why To Choose Therapy Yoga for Migraine Headache?
Rejuvenate Body and Mind
A yoga session is aimed at rejuvenating the body-mind complex. It will not be wrong to state that a yoga session resulting in tiredness is not a yoga session at all. In a review of yoga research for headaches, it was found that yoga plays a role in reducing headache duration, headache frequency, and intensity. Yoga therapy for patients with headaches should strictly be followed under a clinician's supervision and trained yoga therapist.