Scientists have been doing research into what causes migraines for decades. Our understanding of migraine has improved greatly in the last decade, although much more is to be learnt. Migraine is, essentially, a brain problem involving a disorder of how sensory information, such as that about pain, light or sound, is dealt with by the brain.

At the start of a migraine attack chemical changes happening in a part of the brain known as the brain stem allow the attack to begin. This starts a 'loop' of changes, with the brain responding abnormally to normal signals from its covering and its blood vessels. Migraine symptoms can include throbbing headache, sensitivity to light and noise, nausea, vomiting and lethargy (lack of energy). In some people, changes in the cortex cause changes in their sight, such as dark spots, colored spots, sparkles or 'stars', and zigzag lines. Numbness or tingling, weakness, and dizziness or vertigo (the feeling of everything spinning) can also happen. These symptoms are called the 'aura' of migraine. In adults, they usually happen before the headache itself, but in children, they may happen at the same time as the headache. A number of other things can also affect migraine attacks.

How biofeedback can help my headaches?

Since most migraines are triggered the presence of stressors, learning how to properly relax is very important in dealing with them. Biofeedback is a mind-body technique that uses special equipment to help you learn how to control bodily functions that are usually invisible to you , such as heart rate, blood pressure, skin temperature, and muscle tension.

During a session, you are connected to the monitoring machine, which translates your bodily functions into audio or visual signals. The more stressed and tense you are, for example, the louder the tones you'll hear. Over a period of time, you'll learn to use relaxation techniques such as guided imagery and progressive muscle relaxation to reduce your tension, and this, in turn, will effect the "feedback" from the machine.

One form of biofeedback that has been particularly successful for migraine sufferers is temperature control biofeedback. This involves learning to raise the temperature of your hands, increasing blood flow to the extremities and away from the areas of the head where blood vessel congestion can cause migraine symptoms.

Biofeedback training for headache management

EEG Biofeedback
EEG biofeedback measures your brain's "waves". Alpha waves are produced during alert relaxation, while theta waves are associated with deep meditative states. Beta waves are produced during task concentration and problem solving. Delta waves are present during sleep.

Biofeedback techniques can be used to train your EEG rhythms. Training systems such as the Brainmaster or ABT Bioscan use visual and auditory feedback, making you aware of which brain rhythms are present. Displays can be of many types, and computer displays are capable of producing a wide variety of useful displays. These can include "thermometers", video games, and other graphic displays.

Hand Warming
The main goal of hand warming is to assist in measuring our level of stress through skin temperature, and thereby allow us to change our stress level to meet the circumstances. The more stressed a person is, the lower the temperature in the hands, feet, and other extremities. The lower the stress level, the higher the temperature should be in the extremities. The SC911Digital Biofeedback Thermometer is a small, affordable unit used for hand warming exercises and monitoring of finger temperature.

Deep Breathing
The Resperate utilizes a patented technology to pace your breathing from the normal range of 14 to 19 breaths per minute to the "therapeutic zone" of under 10 breaths per minute.
Within a few minutes into the exercise the muscles surrounding the small blood vessels dilate [relax], thereby allowing blood to flow more freely, resulting in lower blood pressure. The Resperate's pacing technology enables you to perform these therapeutic breathing maneuvers effortlessly.

Your breathing returns to normal after each session but the beneficial impact on your blood pressure accumulate.
With regular use of the Resperate, significant and sustained reduction in blood pressure and overall stress level can be achieved.

GSR for Relaxation
The EDA Bioscan (GSR) not only measures your immediate stress response, known as state anxiety, but it also tells you about your overall stress, known as trait anxiety. By taking note of your trait anxiety reading, you can tell on a day-to-day basis if are becoming more relaxed or more anxious.

The EDA Bioscan can help you learn about what causes you to feel stressed so that you can learn to manage stress in your life. You can use EDA to know how tense you are and to easily train yourself to relax.

The EDA Bioscan not only measures your immediate stress response, known as state anxiety, but it also tells you about your overall stress, known as trait anxiety. By taking note of your trait anxiety reading, you can tell on a day-to-day basis if are becoming more relaxed or more anxious.