Migraine is a frustrating
condition for its sufferers. It’s expensive in terms of
pain, money, and pharmacological use necessity. Drugs remain
the “gold standard” of care. Patients often ask their
migraine healthcare providers for non-pharamacological alternatives.
Toronto migraine sufferers want alternative ideas!
Yorkville Chiropractic and Wellness Centre puts forward that exercise may be one
such useful choice.
EXERCISE FOR CHRONIC PAIN
Migraine is, for most Toronto migraine sufferers,
a chronic pain condition. It’s not typically a one and done condition. Chronic pain disrupts
the nervous system as well as the specific pain-generating
issue. Researchers explained evidence that exercise helps a
variety of chronic pain conditions including migraine directly and indirectly
with an aim to change the cycle of pain,
sedentariness, and worsening disability. These
changes don’t emerge overnight. They come with
long-term, consistent, individualized exercise bringing about improvement in pain and function. (1) Yorkville Chiropractic and Wellness Centre tells
our Toronto chiropractic patients with all sorts of
conditions that it is slow and steady commitment that gets the result.
EXERCISE FOR MIGRAINE BEING STUDIED
Researchers and migraine sufferers alike hold out hope for a
simple, inexpensive approach to migraine care. For
example, a new comparison study of
neck-specific exercise versus sham ultrasound to reduce
the frequency and intensity of migraine attacks. (2) A recent meta-analysis
in Headache reported that aerobic exercise for migraine patients
dropped the number of migraine days. (3) These are valuable
outcomes for Toronto migraine treatment.
EXERCISE BENEFITS: Overall and Migraine Specific
Toronto chiropractic patients are manytimes
urged to exercise. Exercise seems like a recommended
panacea for everything from back pain to migraine to depression to neck pain
and so much more. Why? It works. Exercise suppresses inflammation
via reduction of inflammatory modulators (many cytokines) and stress hormones
(growth hormone and cortisol). Exercise constructively impacts
the microvascular system that possibly influences
a certain type of cortical spreading depression. Specific
to migraine, exercise benefited migraine self-efficacy by allowing
the migraine sufferer to have a sense of control which reduced
migraine burden. How much exercise does this?
“Sufficiently rigorous aerobic exercise” resulted in statistically
significant drop in migraine frequency, intensity and
duration. That is welcomed by Toronto
migraine sufferers! Of course, higher intensity exercise seems
to bring about more benefit. Pharmacological drugs like topiramate were
reported to be superior to exercise, but including
exercise into its use was implied as being beneficial. Migraine sufferers
who also have neck pain or tension headache are reported as
benefiting from exercise. Low impact is worthwhile
if high impact exercise is not doable. (4) Yorkville Chiropractic and Wellness Centre concurs
with the researchers’ outcome: exercise is a practical
evidence-based recommendation for migraine prevention.
CONTACT Yorkville Chiropractic and Wellness Centre
Listen to this PODCAST
with Dr. David Kulla on The
Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he describes
how he followed The
Cox®
Technic System of Spinal Pain Management for his patient with
migraine which incorporated Cox® Technic spinal manipulation
as well as exercise for welcomed relief by his patient.