Archive for the ‘Other Therapies’ Category

Migraine and magnets

Magnotherapy for migraines is a topic covered in my ebook, so it’s good to find reports of a study testing a pain-free, hand-held device that sends a magnetic pulse into the head.

The noninvasive device delivers a therapy known as transcranial magnetic stimulation, or TMS.

It appears, from the results, described here, that this may bring relief to some migraine sufferers.

Dr. Yousef Mohammad, of The Ohio State University in Columbus, reported the findings at the annual meeting of the American Headache Society in Boston. In the study, researchers recruited 201 patients suffering from migraine with aura, then randomly assigned them to use either the device being tested or a “sham” device that was being used for comparison. Patients were instructed to apply the device over the site of the migraine, when symptoms were first noticed. It was found that two hours after treatment, 39 percent of the TMS patients were pain-free, versus 22 percent of patients using the sham device. Read more at the full article.

The 39 percent result is somewhat better than the usually expected placebo effect, and is also better than the 22 percent of patients who used the sham device.

If you’d like to try a magnetic bracelet (such as the one I use) please visit my magnotherapy website.

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Can detox cure migraines?

Migraine and detoxRecipes for Detox and Cleansing

I recently met up with Sandy Halliday, a graduate from the same nutrition college as me. We obviously soon started discussing the different routes we’d taken since our course finished.

While I have specialized in migraine, Sandy’s research and practice has focused on detox diets.

But as we compared notes it became obvious that there was much common ground, as a detoxification diet can be a great tool in the fight against migraine. Here are a few reasons why:

  • Many complementary therapists have related migraine to sluggish liver function, and the liver is the body’s main detoxification organ, so it needs to be functioning well.
  • If your liver and other organs of elimination can’t cope with the toxins in our diet and environment, you will suffer!
  • Years of unhealthy eating can lead to indigestion and a toxic colon.
  • A toxic colon can, in turn, lead to poor absorption of nutrients such as magnesium, so often deficient in migraine sufferers.
  • A good detox diet will exclude most of the common dietary migraine triggers, but will include nutrient rich foods, many of which are rich in magnesium, and which support the liver’s detoxification processes.
  • The liver eliminates spent hormones, but if it cannot do this efficiently old hormones may build up, resulting in a hormone imbalance. Many migraines are “hormonal”.

While we may all be aware of the benefits of a detox diet, with our modern life-style and the practicalities of following a sensible detox plan, good intentions often fall by the wayside, and no migraine sufferer needs anything that will cause them extra stress.

So Sandy has designed a plan that combines being safe and nutritionally sound, with being enjoyable and one you’ll easily stick to – even with family meals to plan.  Learn more by visiting Sandy’s detox site.

Recipes for Detox and Cleansing

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Posted in Dietary Approach, Healthy Living, Other Therapies | 1 Comment »

Women and Migraine

Here’s an interesting article on women and migraine in Hospital News, Canada’s Health Care Newspaper Online.

To set the scene, Dr. Allan Gordon, Director of the Wasser Pain Management Centre and a specialist in the treatment and management of migraine pain, speculates as to why women are approximately three times more likely to be affected by migraine than men.

Many women will have observed that their migraines are linked to hormone fluctuations. As an example, one-third of female migraine sufferers will experience less pain or even a complete absence of pain during pregnancy, while for two-thirds of sufferers there is no change or even a worsening.

As one of the lucky group with no migraines at all during in my two pregnancies, I can vouch for the fact that this was only temporary respite and, as is usual, my migraines returned after pregnancy.

Although I prefer natural methods myself, many women take the route of conventional medication. However  this is undesirable when trying for a family, during pregnancy and while breastfeeding. It’s good, then, to see this article suggest some drug-free migraine management techniques.

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Therapeutic Effect of Laughter

Following on from my post a few days ago about “walking, talking and laughing” I came across the following post about laughter clubs in the news.

If you can bear with the initial (possibly) “fake” laughter in the news-clip, you’ll see that this is backed up by science. And I mean no insult when I talk about fake laughter, because you’ll hear in the clip that the well-being effect is even induced by fake laughter.

More on laughter’s therapeutic effect.

So…. next time someone sends you a corny joke in your email, enjoy it anyway.  A good belly laugh is just what the doctor ordered.

Other stress reduction techniques are available in my ebook.

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