While this young woman identified this insight as a #blondmoment, I actually feel it is quite brilliant. This short post actually tells us quite a lot about the behavioral management of headaches. First, she has been suffering from a headache (hopefully mild) for some time and despite her suffering she didn’t really know what to do to stop her headache. Somehow she had the insight to ‘PAY ATTENTION’ and she noticed that her hair clip was causing mechanical problems resulting in persistent headaches. I suspect that her hair clip was pulling her scalp too tightly resulting in irritation and then headache.

Now, she might have noticed a slight irritation in her scalp when first using her hair clip but quickly got used to the irritation so it failed to register anymore. But, then the headaches started and she didn’t immediately connect the scalp irritation with her headaches.

While this is an unusual and very specific example, this type of event occurs all the time and headache sufferers are so far down the road from the time the initial irritation started that they have no recollection of the original events that cause or aggravate their headaches; all they know is that they have headache and they are getting worse over time.

So, what events am I talking about? Well, stress for one. I know, I know, stress has gotten to be a fairly meaningless word because it can be used to describe so many events inside and outside of us. But, the fact is that when we humans go through a stressful event our bodies do react and these reactions cause changes to occur that put pressure on our bodies and ourselves and which often end up in symptoms if the stressful reactions are not dealt with and stopped. So, it could be said that the tight hair clip is a ‘stressor’ and literally putting pressure on her scalp resulting in a headache. There are many other stressors that put pressure on our bodies and if we are prone to headache these stressors will make sure we get more headaches and after time if these stressors are not relieved you can be sure that more and more headaches will occur and they will become increasingly painful. What are some of these ‘other’ strssors? Well they are things like clenching our teeth or tightening our shoulder muscles or furrowing our eyebrows or pushing the tongue forward, etc. We humans are prone to all kinds of minor habits caused by stress that can and will cause headaches in someone prone to headaches.

That is why I think the post by @AhaShake3 was so brilliant. She was able to take a look at herself and see that a hair clip she was using regularly was causing her problems. And, for her the solution was pretty obvious. Unfortunately, after years of suffering from chronic headaches the solution is not this obvious for most. That is why we start our training program with awareness training. The body has a marvelous ability to push sensations outside of our awareness if these sensations occur regularly. This is great in most cases but if a person genetically prone to headaches is not aware that they carry muscle tension in any of the muscles of the face, head, jaw, neck or shoulders then they have no clue what to do to stop the pressure or the headaches.

CASE STUDY “Sandy”

• Information gathered at the evaluation:
Sandy had severe headaches for many years. She had tried “everything” and nothing provided lasting relief. She had grown children and was the primary caretaker for a disabled relative. She had what she described as a “background” headache just about everyday and migraines and tension headaches several times a week. She was aware that she clenched her teeth at night but didn’t think she did during the day.

Sandy had a very active life in spite of her chronic headaches. She reported that she would often override how badly she felt in order to get things done. Her description of herself revealed that she had very high expectations of herself and put everyone needs ahead of her own.

• Beginning-her headache frequency was a low grade headache just about everyday and migraines 3-4 per week.

• Midway-here headache frequency- 3 in one week. After the first session Sandy noticed that her shoulders were always “up around her ears” when she checked. But, although she knew she clenched her teeth at night she steadfastly denied doing it during the day. As she approached the 5 session, she was picking up on how here body was responding to stress and was noticing fewer headaches of less intensity. She also noticed that during a week long visit from a favorite relative, she was headache free!

• End- here headache frequency- only 2 headaches in two weeks. Sandy realized at the next to last session that she was clenching her teeth during the day particularly while at the computer. Not only that, she noticed that her jaw muscles were sore most of the time which is a sure indication of clenching. She was amazed that she could be experiencing so much discomfort without “realizing it”. After becoming aware of this daytime habit, she was able to notice much quicker when she was clenching and was able to stop. It didn’t take long for this habit to reverse itself. For her, it now felt uncomfortable to clench and normal not to.

The type of headaches that respond the best are tension or migraine headaches that are more frequent that once a month. Cluster headaches, and constant headaches are not as responsive to this approach. Despite that, Sandy was able to significantly reduce the frequency, duration and intensity of her headaches. Because the our natural approach is a training, not a cure, as long as Sandy applies what she has learned she can expect to continue to have fewer and fewer headaches because she is now in charge of her headache prevention.

• Information gathered at the evaluation: Laura is a 46 year old accountant and financial officer of a large health related organization. Her headaches started two years ago. She is married and has a 7 year old child. She typically used 10 injections/pills of Imitrex a month. Her statement at the beginning of the training was: “My headaches usually occur over the weekend and interfere with time I spend with family and friends and can reduce my productivity at work by 50%.” because they are most frequently after a week of working at her high-stress job, leaving her fatigued and unable to function at the optimum levels needed to fulfill her job related duties. This also contributed to her stress level as she felt her job was in serious jeopardy.

Laura had what we call “let down headaches” or “vacation” headaches because they occured most frequently after a week of working at her high-stress job, leaving her fatigued and unable to function at the optimum levels. Her time with family and friends was impaired and because her productivity at work was affected it contributed to her stress level as she felt her job was in serious jeopardy.

• Beginning – severe headaches that lasted from Saturday-Monday every week Laura’s company was experiencing internal disorganization which translated into and unrelenting pace with multiple demands on her from several departments. Her style was to work beyond her limits and to interpret the situation as that she was somehow “lacking” because she could not keep up.

• Midway-she actually had several weeks with no headaches/no Imitrex. At first Laura had difficulty scheduling her training sessions because she was so busy putting the needs of her job first. She was unable to carve out any time for herself. And, she often found herself on the verge of tears in her attempts “to keep it all together”. But the pain overcame her job concerns as she realized that she would lose her job anyway if she continued in the direction she was going. She realized that her fear was that she was somehow inadequate and that was why she couldn’t respond appropriately to the unrealistic demands that were being made upon her.

She began to take more control of her life and decided that she would do her best without putting herself at risk and that would have to be good enough.

• End – her headache frequency was two mild headaches a month lasting a few hours instead of days. Laura had come along way in managing not only her muscular tension but also her reactions to stresses at work that made her feel inadequate.

Along with the physical changes she made, she was able to pace herself and prioritize the requests that were made on her, reduce her work week hours to a more realistic level, all without any repercussions from her superiors.

She was happier and had enjoyable weekends that left her feeling refreshed. She had reduced her Imitrex usage less than 3 injections/pills per month.

Laura can expect her headaches to continue to improve over time, as she continues to practice what she has learned. When you are someone who is prone to headaches, the techniques used in our natural approach are incorporated into your life so that you become the person in charge of your headache prevention.