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Using a Natural Approach to Managing Chronic Headaches
from: Phyllis Grannis
If you are like most headache sufferers you can describe in great detail what it feels like to HAVE a headache but you cannot describe the signals your body gives you BEFORE you get the headache. Most headache treatment tries to just stop the pain but not stop what caused the headache in the first place. Real lasting relief is beyond your reach unless you learn how to respond to your body differently.
Natural headache relief is possible because you have habits that you are unaware of which trigger your headache pain. These habits occur in two areas. The first is physical. Anything that involves your body: how you hold your jaw, chronic clenching of your teeth and tense shoulder muscles, just to name a few. The second area is in how you respond to life stresses both positive and negative. We know from working with many long time headache sufferers, that your coping mechanisms now involve muscular tension and you no longer have a reference point for deep relaxation. That is what makes medicine so ineffective and a natural headache cure which works to prevent your headaches before they start so effective.
In our private practice we used biofeedback equipment to monitor levels of muscle tension in 6 different muscle groups of the head, neck and shoulders. It was without fail a shock to the headache sufferer, who sat down THINKING they were relaxed only to see from the objective equipment that they weren’t. Over time their ability to recognize a truly relaxed state had been seriously impaired and their body had accommodated to what it thought relaxed felt like, but it no longer was. In order to find and experience deep, restorative relaxation a coach is needed to point the way.
So, using a process of natural headache relief means first that you learn to pay close attention to your body signals so that you can change them. For example, once you are aware you are clenching your teeth, you can train yourself to stop. It will require some help to be able to sense how your long-standing habits feel because the sensations you notice seem normal to you.
How do you know a natural headache relief approach will work for you?
- You have tried "everything"
- Is your life worse because of frequent headaches?
- You have migraine, tension, or mixed headaches more than once a month
- Do you find yourself anticipating headaches?
- Do you still depend on medicine for pain relief?
- Are you searching for a natural headache remedy?
Once you remove the behavioral triggers you can stop your headaches because you are eliminating the cause of the problem not just relieving the pain.
LifeMatters.com
Champions for Living Well
Natural Headache Relief Program
http://www.lifematters.com/natural_headache_relief.asp
About The Author
Phyllis Grannis, M.F.T.
Trained in biofeedback and many psychotherapy strategies, she is skilled in coaching people with chronic pain how to successfully manage symptoms and embark on a path to recovery. Empowering individuals with information and techniques that work promotes a positive outcome. She is committed to people obtaining the information they need to make informed choices about their health and well-being.
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