Meditation can soothe a stressed soul and even shorten the duration of mind-splitting migraines. According to a new study, meditation can significantly relieve the intensity of a migraine and shorten it by three hours.
Published in the journal Headache, researchers from Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston Salem, NC and Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA, studied the safety and effects of a mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program used to treat migraines.
MBSR, which teaches mindfulness through meditation, body awareness and yoga, has previously been found to relieve chronic pain. The program was developed as a means for people to cope with stress, anxiety, pain and illness in a healthy and natural way. The study was the first to have proven evidence of meditations effect on migraines.
Researchers assigned 19 people that suffer from migraines to either standard medical care or the MSBR program that lasted for eight weeks. Those in the MBSR group were instructed to meditate for at least 30 to 45 minutes per day, five days a week and attend one instructional class a week. All participants were asked to report the frequency, severity and duration of their migraines before the eight weeks.
The researchers found that those who meditated had 1.4 fewer migraines a month that were less severe. The findings were not statistically shocking because of the small sample size, but the participants had significantly shorter migraines that lasted three hours less than the control group.
"Secondary effects included headaches that were shorter in duration and less disabling, and participants had increases in mindfulness and self-efficacy -- a sense of personal control over their migraines," says Dr. Rebecca Erwin Wells, a lead study author and assistant professor of neurology at Wake Forest Baptist. "In addition, there were no adverse events and excellent adherence."
According to the US National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, migraines affect more than 10 percent of people worldwide and are three times more common in women.
Mindfulness meditation has been linked to decreasing stress, a trigger for severe headaches. "It really makes us wonder if an intervention like meditation can change the way people interpret their pain," Wells says. The findings could provide alternative treatment for patients who wish to avoid prescription medications.
The FDA announced the first approval for a device that sends low electrical currents through the skin to prevent migraines in March of this year.
"For the approximate 36 million Americans who suffer from migraines, there is a big need for non-pharmaceutical treatment strategies, and doctors and patients should know that MBSR is a safe intervention that could potentially decrease the impact of migraines," says Wells.
Larger sample studies need to be conducted to confirm the effects of the MBSR program on migraines. In the meantime, taking some time to "woosah" could help you shorten a stress-induced migraine.
