Migraine Pain May Be Prevented Or Alleviated By Massage Therapy

Fibromyalgia and its associated syndromes can begin any number of symptoms. Some patients report an initial experience of flu-like aching, others find their energy levels sinking lower and lower with each passing day. Personally, I knew something was wrong when I was driving home from work one night and felt a normal stress headache gradually building into something much more alarming. I had never before experienced a migraine headache, but I was about to become well acquainted with one. After a few days of an intensely painful hammering sensation behind my eyes I sought medical intervention, but nothing worked. Two months, several different painkiller prescriptions, and an MRI later, I was nearly suicidally desperate to end the pain. Eventually the migraine went away, but my body was never the same. That was the beginning of my battle against fibromyalgia (FM).

Doctors rarely seem to connect headache issues with fibromyalgia, but when a group of FM patients gets together, sooner or later the conversation almost always turns to headaches. Migraines are a commonly shared symptom, and everyone seems to have a preferred method of relieving the pain or preventing the headaches altogether. Since fibromyalgia patients often have several debilitating symptoms, it is not uncommon for patients to take a large number of prescription medications; so sufferers are always on the lookout for effective ways of managing their symptoms without adding another pill. Today’s Huffington Post has good news for them. A new study conducted by the Miami School of Medicine and published in International Journal of Neuroscience found that massage therapy, when performed correctly, can be a very effective way to alleviate the pain of migraine headaches:

Performed by the University of Miami School of Medicine, as published by the International Journal of Neuroscience, two groups of migraine suffers were studied. The first group (control group) took their prescribed medicine for the entire month, but did not receive massage therapy. The second group took their prescribed medicine as well, but also received a weekly massage. 60% of the massaged group had absolutely no migraines or headaches for the entire month. The massage therapy also helped to alleviate sleep problems and increased serotonin levels.

The University of Miami played around with several different protocols in treating the migraine sufferers. They found the most success with the following treatment regime: between migraine attacks, deep tissue work around the base of the skull, neck, shoulders, and upper back helped to relieve tension contributing to the recurrence of migraines. A side note with regard to deep tissue work: I would never let a massage therapist go deeper on you than you can tolerate comfortably and in a relaxed way. If you can feel your body tensing, your jaw grinding, your heart racing, these are a few red flags that you are likely producing cortisol and other hormones associated with stress, thereby creating diminishing returns for yourself in the form of even more tension — and possibly an aversion to massage. If it were me on the massage table, I would say, “Too much!” or “easy there”, “back off, bruiser”, or even the old favorite, “Uncle!”

When a migraine sets in, the scientists at the University of Miami had the most success with the sufferers face up only. Deep massage anywhere near the head at this time worsened the migraine. Light touch brought on relief. However, stimulation of the hands and feet with circulation enhancing massage helped to draw blood (and pressure) from the head to the extremities, alleviating the pain significantly.

So if you’re a migraine sufferer, give massage therapy a try, and let us know how it works for you!