Neurofeedback For Migraines
WHY DOES MY HEAD HURT?
The most current theory of migraine considers the cause to be an underlying 
central nervous system (CNS) disorder. The CNS consists of the brain and spinal cord. Migraine triggers launch a series of neurologic and biochemical events, which affect the brain's pain and vascular system. Until recently, the general theory on the migraine process rested solely on the idea that abnormalities of blood vessel (vascular) systems in the head were responsible for migraines.
Migraine headache is often localized in a certain area of the head (varying from person to person) and is sometimes accompanied by a pronounced sensitivity to light and sound. Other common migraine symptoms include nausea and vomiting. Migraines are usually gradual in onset, progressively more painful and then undergo a gradual resolution. When migraines are mild-to-moderate, they are usually described as being dull, deep and steady. When severe, migraines are throbbing or pulsating. It is possible to have a migraine episode without the actual head pain, only the pre- and post-symptoms. Migraine may have a strong family history. They are episodic in nature, with some patients experiencing one attack annually and others experiencing attacks several times a week.
Of importance is the frequency with which migraine is misdiagnosed as "sinus headache." Recurrent sinus headaches, particularly those that occur primarily on one side of the head or face, should be re-evaluated for the possibility of migraine headache.
STOP THE PAIN!!!
The pain is not the cause of your headaches.
Migraine pain is the result of an instability in the brain which often affects the blood vessels. Brain tissue itself does not feel pain, but other kinds of tissue in and around the brain can feel pain. The lining of the skull, the blood vessels, pressure sensors, and muscles all sound the alarm.
The pain is very real. Therefore, the debilitating symptoms have been the focus of migraine treatment. While a true migraine cure would be the best news, it's not here yet. Migraine relief that reduces the likelihood of migraine symptoms occurring is the next best thing.
Scientists have long recognized that certain illnesses produce distinctive brain-wave patterns. Neurofeedback is thought to reset these patterns, so that the brain performance canre-normalize. Ongoing migraine relief can occur in as few as six sessions. Permanent, lasting change - meaning a reduction or elimination of symptoms - usually take hold within 20-40 sessions. (The individual brain's structure and history determines the length of time for response.)
Neurofeedback is simply making the central nervous system more internally efficient. Biofeedback is recognized as an effective technique to aid migraine headache sufferers. According to Dr. Barry Schwartz, director of the Headache Center in New Orleans, about 85 percent to 90 percent of patients with chronic headaches respond positively to biofeedback. "Biofeedback also serves as an excellent bridge in assisting patients wean off medications," he said.
HOW DOES NEUROFEEDBACK HELP?
At Better Brains Neurofeedback Training, our primary approach is the NeuroCARE (Comprehensive Adaptive Renormalization of the EEG) system. This approach to neurofeedback trains the brain as a whole system rather than singling out one particular area. The literature shows very few exceptions to the general rule that excessive "slow wave" activity (SWA) is related to symptoms and inefficiencies. The goal is to reduce the excessive slow waves and promote more of the desirable brain wave activity.
Excess SWA is essentially brain turbulence - big energy "bursts" - that uses a lot of energy inefficiently. Inefficiency means head pain, poor concentration, poor memory, difficulty regulating mood, eating, or sleep, and many other bothersome "symptoms."
The NeuroCARE approach uses sensors on the scalp locations associated with the most brain interconnections. It focuses on training your brain to decrease the turbulence and increase efficiency (effectively reducing or eliminating the symptoms produced by the turbulence). The brain becomes more effective at its various tasks, which means your brain works better with less effort.
You may be wondering how neurofeedback can help a migraine when it seems that you are just watching a video monitor and listening to music. It works because NeuroCARE literally speaks the language of the Central Nervous System. The brain is an incredibly sensitive "difference detector," alert for any change in your internal or external environment. Your brain notices and alerts you to a change before your conscious mind can recognize it. (We've all had the sensation of turning in the direction of a noise before we actually "hear" it. Your CNS picks it up before the brain adds meaning to the noise.)
Because you are training the CNS, you don't have to understand the process in your conscious (meaning-based) mind. The CNS is essentially looking at itself in a mirror, and correcting its errors, much as a dancer spends hours before a mirror making sure the body position and movements are "just right." When the brain becomes unstable, the music is briefly interrupted, the brain notices the change, and checks back on itself to see what's going on. This is often enough to break the current cycle creating the instability. Amazing? We think so too!
As your brain repeatedly produces turbulent activity that causes the music and visual to briefly pause, it is also working to identify why the pauses keep happening -- to identify a pattern. Over a short period of time, your brain "figures out" that the turbulent activity is creating the pauses -- it identifies the pattern. Because the brain is self-regulating, it is capable of changing what's it is doing to get a better outcome (no more pauses in the music!).
One example of self-regulation that most of us are familiar with is learning to balance on a bike, or while trying to walk on a narrow curb or board. We are self-correcting for balance almost before we know we need to. This is not consciously driven, beyond the desire not to fall. Our self-regulation handles the task behind the scenes, making constant, minor adjustments that we can't even imagine.