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Massage therapy has shown some success in helping people who suffer from migraine better manage the pain.
By Katie M. Golden, May 23, 2017
Nobody likes to be in pain, and for people who suffer from migraines, pain can be debilitating, disrupting both their personal and professional lives. Whether migraine hits once in a while or on a regular basis, finding relief—preferably relief that can be counted on—is a top priority.
Massage therapy has shown some success in helping people who suffer from migraine better manage the pain. To help your clients who get migraines, you’ll need to understand the condition and what massage therapy has to offer in terms of pain relief.
Migraine is a neurological disease, not a vascular issue as previously thought.
Peter Goadsby, M.D., who is a neurologist and headache specialist at the University of California San Francisco, describes the disease as “an inherited tendency to have headaches with sensory disturbance. It’s an instability in the way the brain deals with incoming sensory information, and that instability can become influenced by physiological changes like sleep, exercise and hunger.”1
Migraine is a complex condition that can be activated by a variety of factors, but also mitigated by a range of interventions.
First, let’s explore how migraines develop. Each migraine cycles through four phases.2 The accompanying symptoms in each phase can vary dramatically among people who suffer from migraines.
Up to 72 hours before the pain hits, there can be warning signs that a migraine is imminent. These signs can include severe exhaustion or hyperactivity, difficulty concentrating, food cravings, sleepiness and neck pain.
The most commonly reported aura is visual, although it only occurs in onethird of the migraine population. A person’s vision can be interrupted by sparkly spots, zigzag lines or tunnel vision, lasting between 20 to 60 minutes. An aura can present in other ways, too, such as vertigo, tinnitus (ringing in the ears) and even temporary paralysis on one side of the body.
The pain during this phase is often described as throbbing, piercing or pulsating. The client may also be sensitive to light, sound and smell. Physical activity usually makes the symptoms worse. This phase can be debilitating for hours or days. Most seek refuge in a quiet, dark room.
Once the pain has subsided, the body requires a recovery period. A person might feel exhausted, sluggish, confused and even depressed.
Dawn Buse, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Neurology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and the Director of Behavioral Medicine at the Montefiore Headache Center in New York, says that although firm scientific data is lacking, patients still find value in massage therapy.
“Data on the efficacy of massage for migraine are somewhat limited. This does not mean that massage is not helpful for migraine, but rather that there have been few studies, and they have had smaller samples and less rigorous designs, so we do not have the scientific evidence necessary to make a conclusive statement about its efficacy. This is due in large part to the fact that there is less funding available to support research on massage and other non-pharmacologic treatments than there is to support the testing of new medications,” she explains. “However, many patients find massage therapy helpful, in which case I encourage them to make it a regular part of their treatment plan along with other healthy lifestyle habits, relaxation and self-care activities.”3
Though limited, there have been a few studies that point to a positive connection between massage and migraine relief.
Jamie Valendy and Anna Eidt suffer from chronic migraine. Both women have 15 or more migraine days a month. Only 8 percent of the migraine population in the United States have migraines this frequently or this severe—roughly 4 million people.7
Valendy schedules a massage every 4–6 weeks to help her manage her migraine attacks. Her therapist is trained in deep tissue, trigger point and Swedish massage. Valendy says that she knows it’s time to schedule a massage session when her “shoulders become so tight that they start lifting upward and [she has] a difficult time getting them to relax back into a normal posture.”8
Eidt, who schedules a massage every two weeks, believes finding the right massage therapist is essential. “It takes a very special, knowledgeable and responsive practitioner for massage therapy to be an effective form of migraine prevention,”9 she says. She prefers gentle myofascial trigger point massage, noting that anything too rough or hard is often too much to bear and can trigger a migraine attack.
“Shiatsu has a profound effect on the nervous system, and I think that is why it is so effective for migraine,” says Leisa Bellmore, a Shiatsu therapist from Toronto.10 Shiatsu technique focuses on pressure points along muscle lines, nerve pathways and blood vessels, along with gentle stretching.
When a client is having an active migraine during a session, Bellmore focuses first on pressure points on the head and neck, then moves to the neck and shoulders. Pressure should start lightly and increase based on the client’s tolerability. Stretching the neck is also a key technique in addressing pain stemming from this area during an attack. Bellmore suggests performing the “forward flexion” technique on migraine clients, as outlined below:
Kelly Lott11 is a massage therapist and educator with 20-plus years of experience. Although Lott does not suffer from migraines, she has made it her mission to assist clients who need help managing migraine pain. “Migraine patients yearn for cold, not heat,” says Lott.
Lott has observed that active massage therapy can increase blood flow and cause inflammation in some migraine clients. She has developed a set of marble stones designed to be used on the forehead, temples, sinus area and back of the scalp. The stones are refrigerated at 36 degrees Fahrenheit until used.
The placement of the stones includes the area where the trigeminal nerves (found in the face and temples) and the occipital nerves (found at the base of the skull) are located. These two sets of nerves are known to cause migraine attacks if they become inflamed. The soothing coolness of the stones can help to calm these nerves. She recommends that cold stone therapy can be used once a week for prevention of migraine attacks or during an active attack.
Lott recommends the following four myofascial trigger points to relieve pressure in the face. This can be performed in conjunction with cold stone therapy or on its own.12
Bellmore also emphasizes the importance of teaching self-care techniques to massage clients with migraine.13 Those experiencing chronic migraine can often feel they have no control over their own body. Self-care can help clients increase body awareness, thereby regaining feelings of control, explains Bellmore. Valendy agrees with this approach. Her husband gives her regular massage at home to prolong the effects of massage between appointments.
Here are some additional suggestions massage therapists can incorporate into their practice as well as teach their clients for self-care:
Research has demonstrated that self-management interventions increase feelings of control and mastery. Giving your clients these tools can improve their overall health and perception of pain.
When working with a person who suffers from migraine, there are several key factors to address before beginning a session:
Cold Stone Therapy for Migraine Headaches
Pain, no matter where experienced or what the cause, can disrupt a person's life on a variety of levels.
Helping Clients Manage Migraines
Learn how massage therapy can help clients who suffer from migraine headaches and the special considerations to keep in mind.