Can Magnetic Therapy Really Relieve Migraine Headaches?

Virtually everybody has suffered from a headaches at one time in their life. There are many causes for getting headaches. But what about migraines?

What is a Migraine?

A migraine is a type of headache that's often severe. Although any head pain can be miserable, migraines are often disabling. In about 15 percent of cases, these painful headaches are preceded by a sensory warning sign (aura), such as flashes of light, blind spots or tingling in your arm or leg. Migraines are also often accompanied by other symptoms, such as nausea, vomiting and extreme sensitivity to light and sound. Migraine pain can be excruciating and may incapacitate you for hours or even days. Fortunately, migraine pain management has improved dramatically in the last decade.

What are the signs and symptoms of a migraine?

A typical migraine attack produces some or all of these signs and symptoms:

Moderate to severe pain 60 percent of migraine sufferers feel pain on only one side of their head, while 40 percent experience pain on both sides

Head pain with a pulsating or throbbing quality

Pain that worsens with physical activity

Pain that hinders your regular daily activities

Nausea with or without vomiting

Sensitivity to light and sound

When left untreated, migraines typically last from four to 72 hours, but the frequency with which they occur can vary from person to person. You may have migraine headaches several times a month or just once or twice a year.

Not all migraines are the same. Eighty-five percent of people suffer from migraines without auras, which were previously called common migraines. About 15 percent of adults have migraine headaches with auras, which were previously called classic migraines. If you're in the second group, you'll likely have auras about 15 to 30 minutes before your headache begins. They may continue after your headache starts or even occur after your headache begins.

These may include:

Sparkling flashes of light

Dazzling zigzag lines in your field of vision

Slowly spreading blind spots in your vision

Tingling, pins-and-needles sensations in one arm or leg

Rarely, weakness or language and speech problems

Magnetic treatment of migraines and headaches.

Magnets are known to stimulate hormone production with in the body, it is this action that makes magnets extremely effective in the prevention and treatment of migraine headaches. When magnets are placed around the head the electromagnetic pulses generated by the magnetic field will cause increased electric activity with in the brain. This increases conductivity between neural pathways, which in turn stimulates the areas of the brain that are responsible for hormone production, namely the hormones serotonin and melatonin. Serotonin is the hormone that controls mood, commonly associated with migraine, stress and depression.

Melatonin is responsible for the internal body clock, it is associated with insomnia, seasonal dysfunction disorder and migraine. Magnetic fields around the head will gradually over a period of days increase the bodies levels of serotonin and melatonin plus magnets are known to increase the blood levels of endorphins which are known as happy hormones as they give a euphoric feeling, they also are the bodies natural pain killers. The combination of the increase of these 3 hormones will help prevent the onset of a migraine or if you already have a migraine it will be less intense plus the duration of the migraine will be greatly reduced.

Common treatments for migraine are:

1. A magnetic pillow pad. If a magnetic pillow pad is used on a daily basis ( placed inside your pillowcase, on top of your normal pillow) it can actually reduce the incidence of migraines. As a the brain is exposed to a strong magnetic field every night the brain will be stimulated daily to increase production of serotonin ,melatonin and endorphins. The effect of this will be that these hormone levels do not drop to abnormal levels which would usually trigger a migraine.

2. A magnetic head band. This is a very basis and functional strap that is placed around the head , much like a sweat band. It contains 800 Gauss/ 80 m tesla magnets and is worn at the onset of a headache/migraine. The disadvantage is that as you only wear when you have a headache it does not work to prevent migraines occurring but it is effective at treating migraines once they have commenced. Its main draw back is that it is not very attractive to wear any many people would not like to use it in a public place. This will reduce its effectiveness if your migraine/headache starts outside the home.

3. A magnetic eye mask. This has the same mechanism as the head band but is a mask that covers the eyes. This is very soothing if you have a tension related migraine or if you suffer from dizziness, flashing lights or spots obscuring your vision during a migraine. People report that the eye mask is very effective in the treatment of migraine pain plus in addition to wearing it at the onset and during a migraine it can be worn every night during sleep and will have a similar effect to that of the pillow pad. Long term use of magnetic devices can completely eradicate hormonally induced migraines and dramatically reduce the occurrence of migraine from other causes.

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What is magnetic therapy?

Magnet therapy, or magnetic therapy, is a pseudoscientific form of alternative medicine based on the concept that certain medical disorders can be effectively treated by exposure to magnetic fields. Some believe that magnetic fields emanating from permanent magnets placed close to the body can cause bones to heal faster, relieve pain, and perform other forms of healing to the body. It is most commonly recommended by practitioners as a cure for joint disorders and back problems. ...
Practitioners of this therapy use negative magnetic fields which have a beneficial effect on health. By placing magnets near or on an injury site, a force field is created that encourages muscle relaxation and increased blood flow, while reducing inflammation. Devices range from small, simple magnets to large machines capable of generating high magnitudes of field strength.