I’m a migraine sufferer, so I know a little bit about pain! My migraines started when I was about five years old and I had an average of two migraines per week well into my late teens. Some migraine sufferers experience only the severe headache, while others experience headache and nausea. I had the exceptional good fortune to experience every known expression of the migraine headache: light sensitivity, nausea, numbness, slurred speech (due to numbness), severe headache, halo vision and heightened sensitivity to sound.

By the time I had reached my late teens, I began to recognize the precursors to my migraine headaches. I knew when one was brewing! At such times, I would seek out a quiet, dark room, lie down, close my eyes and try to blank out all my thoughts. My goal was to relax completely. I controlled my breathing and concentrated on my goal of total relaxation. Often, after a few minutes, I would doze off. When I awakened, anywhere from a few minutes to an hour later, my precursors had vanished and I successfully averted the onset of a full-blown migraine headache.

I described this phenomena to my parents as “thinking away” my migraine. This technique has worked for me for years and although my precursors have become very infrequent, I still use the technique of “thinking away” my migraines to this very day, some 40 years later!

I was a teenager in the 60’s and of course, autogenic relaxation was an unknown at that time. It was some years later that I realized what I was doing by “thinking away” my migraine was, in fact, autogenic relaxation. I, therefore, consider myself a pioneer, perhaps even the inventor of autogenic relaxation and I am living proof that it works!

Seriously, autogenic relaxation is an amazing tool in the field of pain management, known as palliative care in the medical world. Regardless of the etiology (cause) of the pain, autogenic relaxation has its place in the pantheon of tools available to doctors, nurses and caregivers.

Research studies of tension-type headache sufferers (migraine sufferers) suggest that autogenic relaxation training may be more effective than medication, biofeedback and psychotherapy for people suffering with chronic headache pain.

Another tool closely associated with autogenic relaxation is biofeedback. Biofeedback has produced similar positive results for a specific subset of patients. The biofeedback approach requires sophisticated electronic equipment and as a result cannot be practiced by everyone.

Although autogenic relaxation came to me in a rather intuitive way, others may find it useful to seek training in this technique.

There are many sites on the Internet that can help you learn the techniques and if you suffer chronic headache pain, I urge you to explore them and apply what you learn to reduce the frequency and severity of your headaches. Much of this information is free and there are courses available on compact discs for purchase.

Yoga has a great deal in common with autogenic relaxation techniques and is an alternative or supplement that you may find valuable to pursue. Yoga offers mind and body relaxation through various exercises and meditative techniques.

Author Bio: Winston P. McDonald enjoys writing for Uniformhaven.com which sells baby phat lab coat and landau shoes as well as a host of additional products.

Category: Wellness, Fitness and Diet
Keywords: migraine,headache management,experience migraine,pain management