If you know someone who still has occasional migraines – even after medical treatment, then they are a very good candidate for the learning about our Center’s program for migraines.
If someone is well-medicated for migraines but is concerned about its side effects, they are also a very good candidate for our program.
Neurofeedback training using multiple systems which are very helpful for reducing migraines. We also help patients look carefully at factors that sometimes your doctors may not mention that contribute to headaches. We take a comprehensive approach based on extensive experience and research. We find that a combination approach, using approaches that typically are not even discussed by MDs with their patients, can be highly effective.
Neurofeedback training often helps reduce the frequency and intensity of migraines. Click on the two video news stories in the left column. One is from NBC and the other from ABC news Washington, DC. They present good descriptions and explanations of how neurofeedback is used to help with migraines.
> Click here for two case examples (below)
The migraine study, published recently in the journal Behavioral and Brain Function, is titled: “Neurofeedback and biofeedback with 37 migraineurs: a clinical outcome study”, by Deborah Stokes, Ph.D. and Martha Lappin.
Per the study, most patients had long histories of migraines and had tried multiple pharmaceutical treatments prior to trying the neurotherapy. Most were on medications during the study. Participants did an average of 40 sessions over 6 months.
70% of the 37 participants showed a 50% or greater reduction in the frequency of their migraines, and only 16% failed to improve at all. Of those, 62% reported major or total improvement in their migraines.
What’s significant, all patients in the study had been on medications for years but still suffered from significant migraines. So these are some of the toughest patients.
Based on these results – and on clinical experience from clinicians around the country, Neurofeedback offers the potential for significant relief for anyone still struggling with migraines. There was also improvement in over 50% in other non-targeted symptoms, including anxiety, depression, focus and sleep.
Alex: 25 years of migraines
Alex A, a 50 year old man struggled for 25 years with migraines and OCD. The migraines in particular were often crippling, contributing to him constantly being tired and very unproductive. He was extremely unconvinced that Neurofeedback could help him, because the results were not instant. After doing Neurofeedback for several sessions, he became resistant and wanted to quit. He didn’t see how Neurofeedback could possibly help. His mother (in her 80’s) continued to encourage him to come. With her help and our encouragement, he kept on.
After about the 8th session, he noticed some slight benefits to his migraines, and some improved sleep. By session 15, he was seeing consistent improvements in reducing the number and intensity of migraines. Now he came on his own. We did only 25 sessions with him before he stopped because he had started working more (and getting more done). After he stopped, we periodically talk with him. He has reported so far (some months post treatment) no resumption of migraines. He has noted a few headaches, but he said “they were normal headaches – like normal people. I can handle them with no problem.” NOTE that his OCD is tremendously improved also. He says “I still have it. But it no longer gets in my way?” Now that he has used neurofeedback, he said “I cannot imagine why anyone would use medications once they learn about this.”
Jeff: 30 years of migraines
A retired chiropractor (a friend of Michael Cohen, the director) had suffered from migraines for 30 years. Late one day, he got a severe migraine. He called Mike at 10:30 PM and said he was in excruciating pain. He was considering going to the hospital. He reported when this level of migraine occurs, there is no way to stop it for many hours or longer.
Mike had a neurofeedback unit at home. He went to Jeff’s house, hooked him up (while he was in bed). He adjusted the training frequency till Jeff started noticed a small improvement in pain (about 15 minutes). Once the right training frequency was found, training continued for 10 more minutes. By the end of 25 minutes, Jeff reported his pain went from a 10 to a 2 (scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the worst). After the training stopped, he reported 5 minutes later the pain had dropped to a level 1.
He said he could not believe it was possible to stop a headache like that in such a short time – and for it simply to be virtually gone. He did not re-experience the migraine again.
Training away a migraine in progress is not an isolated incidence. It is common to stop a migraine in progress if someone can come in while they are having one.
But that’s not the goal of neurofeedback and training. The goal is to reduce – on an ongoing basis the number and intensity of migraines. Many clinicians around the US have reported that they often see that neurofeedback training does help clients learn to be much more stable and reduce the number of headaches and intensity of headaches.
We encourage you to talk with us at the Center for Brain Training … to discuss individual situations and answer questions about how our program could be helpful.
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