Medical Hypnosis Helps Children with Chronic Migraines Find Lasting Relief

My younger daughter suffered from childhood migraines, describing the experience like “needles in my eye.” It was heartbreaking to watch her endure the unbearable pain of her chronic migraines. Her mother and I felt painfully inept to help her, sending her to a dark, quiet room for hours until it passed.
 

Chronic Migraines in Children

The Migraine Research Foundation reports that we were not alone. In U.S. households, one in four people suffer from migraines – a “debilitating collection of neurological symptoms” 1 such as the following:

  • Throbbing pain on one or both sides of the head
  • Visual disturbances
  • Nausea
  • Vomiting
  • Dizziness
  • Extreme sensitivity to sound, light, touch, and smell
  • Tingling or numbness in the extremities or face

Of the 14 million Americans who experience them chronically (at least 15 days a month), 10 percent are children.
 

Effective Migraine Treatment – Medical Hypnosis

While attending my very first introductory hypnosis course, I called home to check in on my family and my daughter told me she felt the beginnings of another migraine. In my course, I had just learned how to treat patients with migraines and asked my daughter if she would be willing to try something new.

“Sure!” she said, and I walked her through a simple self-hypnosis sequence. Within a few minutes, the migraine was completely gone. We were ecstatic about the rapid and complete effectiveness of this treatment. And my daughter now possessed a tool that she could use any time to prevent future migraines, which was incredibly empowering for her.

Read how Max and Sam overcame their migraines with medical hypnosis.

 

Migraine Treatments Don’t Always Involve Medications

Historically, migraines have often been treated with the medication amitriptyline, with inconsistent results.

Combining treatments such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and amitriptyline in children ages 10 to 17 produce more promising numbers: after 20 weeks participants reported 11.5 fewer days of headaches per month, and 75 percent improved significantly on a headache disability scale 2.

In the same study, a second group of children were treated with headache education and amitriptyline, but improved only marginally compared with the CBT group: children reported only 6.8 fewer days of headaches per month; 48 percent improved on the headache disability scale in the same 20-week period.

These numbers are still encouraging since they represent some relief to children suffering from chronic migraines, but when it is your child you want the most effective treatment possible.

See if medical hypnosis is right for you or your child

 

Medical Hypnosis’ Efficacy – Supported by Research Studies

As medical hypnosis continues to emerge as a viable treatment for a whole host of medical issues including migraine headaches, research confirms its efficacy time and time again. In 1987, the first study comparing medical hypnosis, placebo and medication in children and adolescents showed in the same three-month period, the placebo group experienced 13.3 headaches, the medication group 14.9 and the hypnosis group only 5.8 3.

Subsequent studies confirm repeated decreases in frequency, duration and intensity and use of pain medication; these results are long-lasting for recurrent and chronic migraine headaches as well as daily headaches.

Like my daughter, those who learn the lifelong skill of self-hypnosis for their migraine headaches take back control over their health and their lives, returning their confidence in a pain-free future.

 

References:

1. http://www.migraineresearchfoundation.org/fact-sheet.html

2. http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1793798

3. http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/79/4/593.short