How to Reduce your Migraine Threshold

If you are a migraine sufferer, then you know what it’s like to feel as if your head is going to come apart. Once prone to migraines, our brains become wired for them. Our hypersensitive neural pathways are ready to be triggered over the “migraine threshold”. As a sufferer, myself, I have learned that the only control I have over this condition is to do everything possible to prevent an attack before it starts. Otherwise, a migraine has the power to take my life away with its unpredictability and blinding pain.

My image of the “migraine threshold” is a picture of the brain as a balloon. If it becomes filled with too much helium, it will burst. So, I want to keep my brain calm and reduce the build up of pressure leading to the “migraine threshold”. Because of this, an accumulation of factors can push our brains beyond the limit.

It is almost never just one trigger. Here is an example. One day, I woke up with a spasm in my left shoulder (one shot of helium), and I didn’t have time to do my BodyFix Method™ morning exercises. That set off the physical trigger. The pollen count was high (another infusion of helium), initiating the environmental trigger, and then I went out for lunch with gluten in the salad dressing (a third dose of helium), turning on the dietary trigger. By this time, the balloon in my head burst and pushed me over the edge. Had it not been for so many factors, I may not have ended up with a full-blown migraine.

There are many common migraine triggers. The secret to managing your migraines is to identify and minimize YOUR triggers so that you can lower your overall threshold and reduce the incidence of your headaches.[1] Common migraine triggers include stress, dietary factors or food allergies, environmental factors, and imbalances in body posture.

Managing Stress is critical to maintain balance in a healthy life. For a migraine sufferer, with a brain like an expanding helium balloon, managing your stress is critical to keeping your brain calm, quiet, and headache free. Effective forms of stress management include meditation, talk therapy, art therapy, exercise, and spending time with friends. Find what works for you and stay on top of your stress levels; learn to know when your brain is getting stressed out. Reduce your tension before it blows up and you feel out of control and as if your head will burst.

Food allergies or diet sensitivities are another huge trigger for many of us. Common generators include chocolate, red wine, fermented foods, MSG, and tyramine (an amino acid prevalent in many ripe fruits and other foods). But, other common allergens including gluten, dairy, nuts, onions, and citrus can also increase your migraine sensitivity. Since we each have a unique chemistry, the only way to know is by removing these foods and noticing if your migraine sensitivity decreases.

Environmental toxins are a major cause of migraines. These can be chemical cleaners, seasonal allergies, or other scents such as perfume. They are often difficult to avoid. If you have been keeping your overall threshold low, you will be less likely to get triggered by an uncontrollable environmental toxin.

Your body’s Postural Alignment is one of the migraine triggers most in your control. Forward head posture is the most common postural tendency that precedes most headaches and migraines. When the head is forward, the neck muscles and upper back muscles become strained. Blood flow to the brain is compromised. Rounded shoulders and a curved upper back often accompany forward head posture, disrupting blood flow between the heart and the head. Keep the channel between the heart and the head open and flowing to optimize blood flow to the brain. If we are sitting with slouched spines and forward heads, we are much more susceptible to developing headaches.

Practice sitting on your sitting bones with your head aligned over the center of your pelvis. Roll your shoulders back and lift your ribs up, not out. Your chin should always remain level with the earth.

A migraine can be created by a postural misalignment anywhere in the body. From the feet, to the ribs, to the hips, if there is a blockage caused by tension and a lack of movement in a major joint in the body, it can be the source of a migraine. This topic requires a more detailed explanation and will be the subject of my next migraine blog…. Postural Alignment and Migraines.

Heal your Headache Here! If your triggers have gotten the best of you, here is a simple sequence to alleviate your migraine.

Static Back with Roll

Upper Spinal Twist

Cat Cow on Elbows

Seated Spinal Twist

Seated Scalene Stretch

Please email me at info@bodyfixmethod.com if you would like a copy of this sequence or have questions about migraines or about alignment therapy and migraines. We are here to help.

[1] Heal Your Headache. David Buchholz, M.D.