Headaches Treatment & Prevention – Part 2
After introducing headaches, I then explored the downside of orthodox treatments and how massage can help. Now I want to share with you how other complementary therapies may help.
Nutrition
We all know that if you suffer from headaches you need to avoid becoming dehydrated. But what can be equally important is to control your blood sugar balanced by avoiding sugars and refined carbohydrates (i.e. anything sweet, fluffy or white!) . Certain food substances – such as histamine, tyramine and phenylethylamine – can trigger headaches or migraines. These foods include cheese, citrius fuits, red wine, chocolate & coffee. There is a time lag between eating these foods and an attack, as the problem arises when the food reaches the liver. Some research has been done on the benefits of Omega (3, 6 & 9) essential fatty acids will help control pain & inflammation for migraine sufferers.
[Harel Z, Gascon G, Riggs S et al. Supplementation with omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in the management of recurrent migraines in adolescents. J Adolesc Health 2002 Aug;31(2):154-61. 2002.]Bowen Technique
The Bowen Technique is a hands on therapy that is applied using very gentle pressure. The practitioner uses thumbs and fingers on precise points of the body to perform Bowen’s unique sets of rolling-type moves which stimulate the muscles and soft tissue of the body.
In association with the Migranie Action Assocation some research was carried out into the effectiveness of receiving Bowen Technique treatment to allieviate migraines. All study participants had been diagnosed as migraine sufferers by their GP. 31 out of the 39 study particpants experienced a positive result of either
- Reducation in frequency of migranies
- Reducation in the degree of pain experienced
- Reduction in both the frequency of migraines and the degree of pain experienced
For more information on the study see http://www.bowenmigraineresearch.co.uk/
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Does nature restore you? – Part 2
In my previous post, I shared the evidence of how nature can restore you. I appreciate that not everyone in London lives within easy access to a green space, and it turns out that it may not be necessary to visit the green space just look at a green space. This first occurred to me a few weeks ago, when I was in Manchester. In the hotel reception they had screens playing a short video clip of a roaring log fire. A roaring log fire just happens to be another of those things that I find both calms me, reduces my stress levels and restores me. What I noticed is that I had a positive response to the video clip, even though it was just a film of a log fire rather than an actual log fire. So this made me think, would just looking at a picture of nature on your PC have the same positive impact as going out in nature. Li & Sullivan in a randomised controlled experiment demonstrated that views to green landscapes promote attention restoration and help individuals to recover from stress. In another study, researches in China, have discovered that viewing nature based scenes were restorative and those with more openness but no people were more lived to reduce stress. So maybe you could just look at a picture instead. So for those of you where its not practical to spend 5 minutes in nature per day, why not look at a picture of a green landscape (without people) on your mobile phone or tablet or pc, and see if it boosts your attention levels and restores you. References D Li and W C Sullivan, Impact of views to school landscapes on recovery from stress and mental fatigue. Landscape and Urban Planning, vol 148, 2016, pp 149 - 158.
Wang et al Stress recovery and restorative effects of viewing different urban park scenes in Shanghai, China. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 2016, 15, pp 112- 122What can help carpal tunnel syndrome?
Previously, I discussed what carpal tunnel syndrome is and how desk based workers have an increased risk. So what can you do to help youself:
- Vitamin B6 - Carpal tunnel syndrome has been linked to low levels of vitamin B6, so suplementing with the vitamin may help. In fact, several trials have found B6 may alleviate the symptoms, even in people who are not deficient in the vitamin.
- Yoga - In one study a yoga based therapy was more effective at easing carpal tunnel syndrome than improving grip strenght than wrist splints or no treatment.
- Acupuncture - In one radomised control trail, acupuncture was just as effective as steriod treatment,and it was also better at reducing sleep disturbance and improving never conduction than the drugs and came with minimal side-effects.
