Sleep and Migraines

I recently read an article showing that "women who suffer from 'transformed migraine,' a chronic, daily headache usually experienced by individuals with a history of migraines, may benefit from a better sleep routine." This study was done at UNC Chapel Hill, home of the Tar Heels, one of the best basketball teams of all time.

The group was split into 2 ( no pun intended on splitting headaches). One-half of the women were asked to participate in "behavioral sleep modification (BSM) instructions". After a bit of research I discovered this meant the following:

• Go to bed at the same time every night, at a time that allows for eight hours time in bed;
• Eliminate TV watching, reading or listening to music while in bed;
• Use visualization techniques to shorten the amount of time it took them to fall asleep;
• Eat supper at least four hours before going to bed and limit fluid intake within two hours of bedtime;
• Do not take naps.

It should be quite obvious that those who suffer from any headaches will not be getting good sleep but this was one of the first studies to see if these behavioral techniques would actually improve their symptoms.

Women in the BSM group:

• Reported a 29 percent reduction in headache frequency and 40 percent reduction in headache intensity.
• Migraines in some cases moved from daily to occasional

What is so fantastic about this research is that these people were able to help themselves without the use of medication! The BSM guidelines were quite strict and in truth I doubt many people will be able to follow them on a regular basis, but I think I probably could convince patients to do it if they had daily headaches. If nothing else it would be worth it to give these guidelines a try in conjunction with your other treatments.

Related Topics: Sleep Your Way to Weight Loss, Coping with Sleep Loss

Technorati Tags: migraine, sleep, behavior sleep modification