According to the American Migraine Foundation, around 10% of children suffer from migraines. It is prevalent in adults aged 18 to 44.
During adolescence, maximum people start experiencing migraines.
Women are three times more likely to be affected by migraines.
148 million people are affected by chronic migraine.
Yup, that’s a lot of numbers to take in. Feeling a slight headache?
Migraines are now seen as commonly affecting a large number of people. According to clinical definitions, a migraine is a particular type of headache that is more severe and frequently accompanied by other symptoms besides head pain.
A migraine’s symptoms can be quite intense and interfere with day-to-day activities. Like headaches, migraines can be short-lived, just lasting a few hours, or the discomfort can persist for several days.
Worry not; various treatments can help you relieve this pain, which you can easily opt for by consulting a doctor. But we are here to learn about yoga and migraine headaches.
Yoga for migraine headaches?
Yes, various yoga poses can help you feel better if you are suffering from the discomfort of migraines and headaches.
Before learning the poses of Yoga for migraine headaches, let’s understand the symptoms and causes of migraine headaches.
What are the causes of migraine?
There are no particular defined causes as to why someone might suffer from migraine; rather, certain risks can increase the chances of it.
1. Genes
Up to 80% of individuals who get migraines have a first-degree relative who suffers from the condition.
2. Constant stress
High levels of stress may make migraines more frequent for you. A migraine can be brought on by stress.
3. Smoking
Cigarettes contain nicotine which affects our brains. Excessive consumption of cigarettes may also increase the risk of migraines.
4. Missing meals
You may get a migraine headache if you delay a meal.
5. Sensitivity to certain food or drinks
Up to 30% of migraines may be brought on by specific foods and drinks, including aged cheese, alcoholic beverages, chocolate, nitrates (found in pepperoni, hot dogs, and luncheon meats), and fermented or pickled foods.
6. Caffeine
Headaches can occur when one consumes too much caffeine or experiences caffeine withdrawal. Caffeine makes your blood vessels more sensitive. Thus, headaches may happen if you don’t get any caffeine.
7. Frequent use of painkillers
A rebound headache might occur if you take painkillers intended to treat headaches too frequently.
8. Hormonal changes
Around the time of their menstruation cycle, women are more likely to experience migraines. Migraines can be brought on by the sudden drop in estrogen that occurs during menstruation. Birth control drugs and hormone replacement therapy can potentially alter hormone levels.
Common symptoms of migraine:
Migraine has four stages:
1. Prodrome
Constipation, mood swings between joy and sadness, neck soreness, more frequent urination, retention of fluid, frequent yawning
These are some of the symptoms that you may notice one or two days before a migraine. These are warning signs of an upcoming migraine.
2. Aura
Visual phenomena, including varying forms, bright spots or light bursts, lost vision, needles, and pins feeling in a leg or arm, face or body weakness or numbness on one side, and speech difficulty are some examples of migraine aura.
Auras are temporary nervous system symptoms. Most of them are visual, but they can also involve other disruptions. Each symptom often starts out mildly, intensifies over a few minutes, and lasts up to 60 minutes.
3. Attack
During a migraine, you might feel pain on one or both sides of your head. The pain is in the form of throbs and pulses.
Also, you might get sensitive to light, smell, or touch, accompanied by nausea and vomiting.
If left untreated, a migraine often lasts 4 to 72 hours. Each person experiences migraines differently. Migraines can hit infrequently or repeatedly each month.
4. Post-Drome
You can experience post-migraine drowsiness, confusion, and fatigue for up to a day. Some people claim to feel happy. A sudden head movement could briefly reactivate the pain.
What are the general treatments available for migraines?
Although chronic migraine headaches cannot be healed, they can be managed and perhaps even improved. Abortive and preventative are the two main medication-based therapy methods.
1. Abortive
When you take medicine as soon as a migraine begins, it works best. Take these as soon as the discomfort subsides. Abortive drugs assist in stopping or lessening your migraine symptoms, such as pain, nausea, and light sensitivity, by potentially terminating the headache process. Some abortive drugs relieve the pounding discomfort by tightening your blood vessels, restoring them to normal.
2. Preventative
If you get frequent, severe headaches that interfere greatly with your daily activities and occur more than four times per month, your doctor may prescribe medication. Preventative drugs lessen both the frequency and intensity of headaches. To help prevent migraines, medications are often used on a regular, daily basis.
How does yoga help with headaches and migraines?
Yoga for migraine headaches might sound like a vague band-aid type solution.
But hear us out before making your judgments.
Yoga aids in reducing blood pressure and slowing the pulse rate, which enables the body to recover from stressful situations like migraine attacks.
According to a comprehensive study on the effect of Yoga on migraines, patients with migraines were given either conventional or Yoga in addition to traditional treatment. In addition to conventional treatment, the yoga group received yoga practice sessions five days a week for six weeks. Clinical evaluation and an autonomic function test were conducted at the beginning of the intervention and its conclusion.
It was found that Yoga combined with conventional treatment and conventional care groups significantly improved clinical outcomes, but yoga therapy was more effective. Patients with migraine who were getting Yoga as an adjunctive therapy noticed an improvement in the vagal tone and decreased sympathetic activity.
The severity and frequency of migraines can be reduced by Yoga.
In another research, 61 consenting chronic migraine patients were divided into three groups and randomly assigned to undergo either standard treatment alone, physical therapy in addition to normal treatment, or yoga therapy in addition to standard treatment.
It was found that in addition to regular treatment, Yoga or physical therapy resulted in a greater decrease in headache frequency and intensity.
Now that you understand the efficiency of Yoga for migraine headaches, let’s learn the different Yoga poses you can start immediately for your migraine relief.
How to start yoga for migraine headaches?
Trying to find which yoga is best for migraine headaches, and where should you get started? Well, we have got you covered, pal. Here are some good and easy yoga poses for migraine relief.
1. Adho mukha svanasana (Downward Dog Pose)
The downward dog pose is one of the best yoga poses for migraine relief.
The downward-facing dog pose, or adho mukha svanasana, reduces headaches and enhances blood circulation. Your body is stretched, your mind is freed, and your bones are strengthened.
2. Prasarita padottanasana (Wide Stance Forward Bend)
Your brain gets a blood-oxygen to boost from the wide-legged forward bend pose, Prasarita Padottanasana. Wide stance is another one of the best Yoga poses for migraine headaches; it can be performed by people who have neck problems or cannot perform headstands.
3. Shishuasana (Child Pose)
The child’s posture or Shishuasana calms your mind and body. Your body will be stretched in this posture.
4. Janusirsasana (Head to Knee Pose, Seated Head-to-Knee Pose)
The head-to-knee pose known as Janusirsasana promotes blood circulation while assisting digestion.
5. Hastapadasana (Hand-to-Foot Pose)
The standing forward bends pose, known as Hastapadasana, improves blood flow to your nervous system. It is a great yoga pose for migraine relief as it eases mental tension.
6. Marjariasana / Bitilasana (Cat-Cow Pose)
Your circulation will be improved, your neck and spine will be stretched, and cat-cow is incredibly calming to the body and mind.
7. Savasana (Corpse Pose)
Corpse Pose can assist you in falling into a state of meditation or, at the absolute least, enable your mind to rest and experience some relief from the discomfort when a migraine strikes. All you want to do is lay motionless in a dark room.
8. Setu Bandha Sarvangasana (Bridge Pose)
Your upper body will feel better after doing the bridge pose. Lifting your heart above your head while in this stance allows you to boost the blood flow to your brain.
9. Uttanasana (Standing Forward Bend)
Standing Before You Bending helps you feel better and increases circulation, which can help your hormones function more normally.
10. Viparita Karani (Legs-Up-The-Wall Pose)
Numerous conditions, including high and low blood pressure, depression, anxiety, headaches, and migraines, have been linked to this stance.
Takeaway:
Although there is no known cure for migraines, there are treatments that can lessen the symptoms. To find one or a combination of treatments and medications that works for a person, they may need to try a variety of them.
When combined with conventional medical treatments, such as yoga, the frequency and severity of migraine headaches can be reduced. There is various yoga for migraine headaches, and learning the proper posture with the help of an instructor will help you get better results.
Yoga has always played a vital role in keeping mental health issues in check. Various yoga and meditation techniques can help you relieve stress or anxiety. Click here to know more.
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