Neurotherapy for Migraine Disorder

Comprehensive Neurotherapy at BODY MIND & BRAIN in Gold Coast is the best “treatment” for Migraine Disorder. But to be precise, Neurotherapy is an intervention that addresses the underlying cause and not just another passive treatment to temporarily suppress symptoms. Let me tell you why it’s the best option— in plain English.

 (If you want to study the topic in more depth, have a look at the academic literature in the section SCIENTIFIC REFERENCES at the bottom of this page!)

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Migraine-Treatment-Gold-Coast: migraine cure

What You should know about Migraine Disorder

Before rushing into any treatment or therapy, it is crucial to collect some information first. The key questions we need answered are
• “What is the root cause of Migraine Disorder?” and
• “What is the most sensible therapy for Migraine Disorder?

What is Migraine?

Migraine is a Functional Brain Disorder with symptoms during and between attacks. In the Migraine Brain, the balance between inhibitory (= restraining) and excitatory (= agitating) electrical activity drifts towards instability, throwing some areas repeatedly into chaos.

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Mayhem in the Brainstem

During Migraine attacks, seizure-like activity in the upper brainstem leads to a myriad of symptoms such as head pain, nausea, neck stiffness, dizziness, sensitivity to light and more. Since the mid 1990s, researchers refer to the affected region as “the Migraine generator”.

Chaos in the Cortex

Other attack symptoms occur due to a shift of ions (=charged particles) in the cortex, called cortical spreading depression (CSD): Visual aura, word finding difficulties, mental confusion, but also numbness or half-sided paralysis in Hemiplegic Migraine.

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Excessive activity shows up as Heat!

In thermal images, the heat emissions of the uncontrolled activity in the cortex show up in bright colours during the attack. This infrared photo was taken of a young man in status migrainosus: a migraine attack that kept going for months. You can see the white glow under his hair for yourself.

Mission control goes off-line

Thermal Images also point to the cause of the chaos: The Brain’s control centre —the prefrontal Cortex (PFC) — is severely under-active and shows up dark in the photo. In Migraineurs, the prefrontal Cortex (PFC) is usually a bit “weak” and so not capable of keeping agitated areas under control.

treatment for migraines gold coast

Symptoms of Migraine Disorder between attacks

When the control centre of the Brain is “weak”, it is no surprise that most Migraineurs also have symptoms between attacks: Aches and pains, sleep, sensory gating, attention, focus, worrying, digestion and emotional regulation can all be problematic with a Migraine Brain [Image Lightbox].

Migraine Disorder and ... ?

When the symptoms between attacks are more severe, they often receive their own diagnostic label and are called “comorbidity”. The long list of conditions that are more frequent in Migraineurs proves: Migraine is not just a cycle of headache attacks.

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Medication Prescription

Treating the symptoms in the Body

Big Pharma’s advertising focusses on medication for attack symptoms, thereby painting Migraine as just a “Headache Disorder” and so completely ignoring the root cause of the problem. Since medication does not stop the Migraine Cycle, it’s merely a temporary crutch, not a solution.

Treating the symptoms in the Mind

If evidence played any role in Medicine, Psychotherapy (e.g. CBT) and Biofeedback-based training would be as common here, as they are in Continental Europe. At least in pregnancy, some doctors are responsible enough to advise against relying on attack meds only.

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Brain Network Therapy

Targeting the root of the problem in the Brain

Unlike drugs, Neurotherapy targets the root cause of Migraine Disorder by training the Brain to maintain stability and by strengthening the prefrontal Cortex (PFC). It therefore not only stops the Migraine Cycle, but also helps with the comorbidities and all other Brain-related symptoms.

Advantages of Neurotherapy

• … works effortlessly for everybody
• … is amazingly powerful and effective
• … corrects the root cause
• … is a very natural, drug-free solution
• … has no serious risks or side effects
• … is fully evidence-based (And the sessions are even fun! )

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SELECTED SCIENTIFIC REFERENCES

  • Moulton et al “Altered hypothalamic functional connectivity with autonomic circuits and the locus coeruleus in migraine” PLoS One 2014;9(4):e95508
  • Tessitore et al “Disrupted default mode network connectivity in migraine without aura” J Headache Pain 2013;14(1):89
  • Schwedt et al “Atypical resting-state functional connectivity of affective pain regions in chronic migraine” Headache 2013;53(5):737-51
  • Jin et al “Structural and functional abnormalities in migraine patients without aura” NMR Biomed 2013;26(1):58-64
  • Yuan et al “Altered structure and resting-state functional connectivity of the basal ganglia in migraine patients without aura” J Pain 2013;14(8):836-44
  •  Xue et al “Alterations of regional spontaneous neuronal activity and corresponding brain circuit changes during resting state in migraine without aura” NMR Biomed 2013;26(9):1051-8
  •  Hadjikhani et al “The missing link: enhanced functional connectivity between amygdala and visceroceptive cortex in migraine” Cephalalgia 2013;33(15):1264-8
  •  Liu et al “Hierarchical alteration of brain structural and functional networks in female migraine sufferers” PLoS One 2012;7(12):e51250
  •  Maizels et al “Beyond neurovascular: migraine as a dysfunctional neurolimbic pain network” Headache 2012;52(10):1553-65
  •  Russo et al “Executive resting-state network connectivity in migraine without aura” Cephalalgia 2012;32(14):1041-8
  • Xue et al “Intrinsic brain network abnormalities in migraines without aura revealed in resting-state fMRI” PLoS One 2012;7(12):e52927
  • Biagianti et al “Orbitofrontal dysfunction and medication overuse in patients with migraine” Headache 2012;52(10):1511-9
  • Mainero et al “Altered functional magnetic resonance imaging resting-state connectivity in periaqueductal gray networks in migraine” Ann Neurol 2011;70(5):838-45
  • Gómez-Beldarrain et al “Orbitofrontal dysfunction predicts poor prognosis in chronic migraine with medication overuse” J Headache Pain 2011;12(4):459-66
  • Buchgreitz et al “Abnormal brain processing of pain in migraine without aura: a high-density EEG brain mapping study” Cephalalgia 2010;30(2):191-9
  • Gentile et al “Pharmacogenetic insights into migraine treatment in children” Pharmacogenomics 2014;15(11):1539-50
  • Barbanti et al “Drugs targeting nitric oxide synthase for migraine treatment gold coast” Expert Opin Investig Drugs 2014 Aug;23(8):1141-8
  • Krome “Migraine: treatment and prevention” Dtsch Med Wochenschr 2014 Feb;139(9):414-5
  • Gonzalez et al “Evaluating migraineurs’ preferences for migraine treatment gold coast outcomes using a choice experiment” Headache 2013;53(10):1635-50
  • Casucci et al “Controversies in migraine treatment gold coast: opioids should be avoided” Neurol Sci 2013;34 Suppl 1:S125-8
  • Speciali et al “Migraine treatment and placebo effect” Expert Rev Neurother 2010;10(3):413-9
  • Mathew “Dynamic optimization of chronic migraine treatment gold coast: current and future options” Neurology 2009;72(5 Suppl):S14-20
  • Maas et al “Prediction of attack frequency in migraine treatment gold coast” Cephalalgia 2008;28(8):847-5
  • Silberstein “Preventive migraine treatment gold coast” Neurol Clin 2009;27(2):429-43
  • Clemens et al “Three-dimensional localization of abnormal EEG activity in migraine: a low resolution electromagnetic tomography (LORETA) study of migraine patients in the pain-free interval” Brain Topogr 2008;21(1):36-42d
  • DaSilva et al “Interictal alterations of the trigeminal somatosensory pathway and periaqueductal gray matter in migraine” Neuroreport 2007;18(4):301-5
  • Walker JE “QEEG-guided neurofeedback for recurrent migraine headaches” Clin EEG Neurosci 2011;42(1):59-61
  • Stokes et al “ Neurofeedback and biofeedback with 37 migraineurs: a clinical outcome study” Behav Brain Funct 2010;6:9