Biofeedback Can Help Ease Tension Headaches
Perhaps the most common kind of headache is the tension type headache, where stress tightens our muscles, raises our blood pressure, makes our jaw clench and gives us a headache on top of our stress. Unlike other kinds of headaches or migraines, tension headaches can be sucessfully treated. You can take conventional medicine, use aromatherapy, get a neck masssage or you could try biofeedback.
With biofeedback, you consciously take control over some bodily functions once thought as uncontrollable. But you can learn to consciously lower your heart rate and relax, thus easing your tension headache. And there aren’t any negative side effects.
Biofeedback doesn’t work for everybody, but it does work for a lot of people with tension headaches. If conventional treatments don’t seem to be helping or if you are having trouble relaxing, then biofeedback would be worth looking into.
What Is It?
Basically, you get hooked up (without needles!) to a monitor that shows you your vital signs like your heart rate, brain waves or temperature. You consciously try to raise or lower your blood pressure (or your temperature, or whatever) through trial and error (usually breathing excercises). When you get it right, you can see that you are accomplishing. You then repeat this process when you need to without the machine.
There are even video games for your PC or Mac that teach you how to lower and raise your heart rate. The only one I’ve played is called Wild Divine, and I recommend it. You go on a Myst-type adventure, but do not get anywhere until you raise or lower your blood pressure. You do have to hook fingertip monitors onto your computer instead of using a joystick, but the games are a fun way of learning how to get your body to relax.
You could also try to find a biofeedback therapist (which has to have a liscense to operate). If your doctor can’t refer you to one, try looking here.
Hope this helps.
August 13th, 2008 at 4:52 pm
[...] Clip of the Week: Neurofeedback for Migraines by Rena Sherwood Many posts ago, I talked a bit about biofeedback for tension-type headaches. It was difficult to find accurate information for that blog post. (Come to think of it, it was [...]