Today, medical experts estimate that more than 45 million people in the United States alone deal with headaches on a regular basis. If you suffer regularly with tension or migraine headaches, then you know all too well how debilitating they can be. In severe cases, both types of headaches can actually prevent a person from working, going to school, and living a normal life. If you have tried over the counter and prescription medications without much or any success, you might want to consider the benefits that neurofeedback provides.

Recent studies have proven that neurofeedback is an excellent option for bringing relief from migraine headaches. In fact, the National Headache Foundation now recommends this natural and safe therapy for people with headaches and states that of those who have been through the therapy, the outcome has been far better than expected.

Eight out of ten people who are treated with neurofeedback for migraines experience what many are calling a cure. Relief for these people appears to be long lasting.

Research has shown that people who feel like much of what happens in their life is out of their hands are more likely to suffer from headaches than those who feel like they exert a great deal of control in the outcome of each day.

Interestingly enough, neurofeedback is all about allowing your brain to take control by regulating itself. For the people who prefer the “I’m the master of my fate” belief, neurofeedback will seem like a natural fit. But it will work just as well for people who feel at the mercy of the world around them - neurofeedback works independently of one’s beliefs. In fact, neurofeedback is especially effective in helping with conditions that are caused by, or affected by, stress.

During neurofeedback sessions, you may actually be able to train your brain to function within certain wavelengths, the ones that allow you to experience stressful situations or other common triggers, without the usual resulting headache. This is accomplished with an EEG machine that reads your brain waves, and transmits them through a computer and onto a display. You will control the movements of an image on the screen by using brain patterns that fall within the proper frequencies. After between twenty to forty sessions, these changes in brain function may become long lasting, and your migraines may be a thing of the past.

Neurofeedback is the epitome of ‘seeing is believing’. To actually be able to see what the brain is doing, in real time, and continue to watch as it changes and makes improvements, shifting effortlessly form one frequency to another depending on the context and the task at hand, is nothing short of a beautiful display of the complexity of the human brain and nervous system.

Although neurofeedback has been used in clinical settings since the 1970s, this was initially a controversial therapy. The good news is that since that time, people in the medical field have been shown just how beneficial biofeedback and neurofeedback are for a number of problems of the mind and body, which includes tension and migraine headaches.

Do you know a friend or loved one that would enjoy waking up each day, knowing, and trusting, that they could breeze through yet another day in comfort, no longer relying on prescription medications, or fearing that their plans would be ruined by a wicked migraine? Or perhaps you suffer yourself from these agonizing headaches. Just imagine finally getting painful headaches under control and reclaiming your life by using a natural and safe alternative to conventional medication!

Clare Albright
Dr. Clare Albright is a psychologist (CA License PSY11660) and a Neurofeedback practitioner and can be reached at (949)454-0996