We’ve all heard – and laughed at – the line “Not tonight, Honey. I have a headache.” For those who suffer from migraines or other chronic headache pain, though, this phrase takes on an entirely new meaning. It’s hard to do – or think – anything at all when the pain of a migraine is racking your skull.

Sometimes, too, it’s hard being in a relationship with someone who suffers from migraines. Unexpected pain begins to occur, often without any warning at all. Within 15 to 30 minutes, migraine sufferers are sometimes completely incapacitated. Their thoughts, feelings, and moods are completely interrupted.

Why? Because even though the brain itself is not sensitive to pain, many areas of the head including the scalp, face, mouth and throat have pain-sensitive nerve fibers, which ache. 

Headaches can be divided into two kinds. The first type is primary headaches, which are not associated with any disease. The other kind, secondary headaches are associated with another medical problem. 

Just how widespread is this problem? If your date or special evening has been interrupted by migraine headache, you are by no means alone. Everybody will be affected by them at least once, but up to 55 million Americans, suffer from them regularly. In fact, the World Health Organization claims that one in 20 adults suffer from migraine headaches.

People with headaches often have trouble working. This can cause serious problems with their jobs and financial situations. Headaches often affect people’s social skills. The pain, or the fear of the pain, can cause people to become tense and anxious, even when they are not hurting. 

Bright lights, some foods and smells can even trigger migraine headaches, so people have to be careful about their surroundings. Worst of all, many people who do not suffer from migraine headaches have no idea how much a sufferer’s life is affected by this experience. This inability to relate to the migraneur’s situation can cause people to become frustrated, angry, and even give up on an important relationship.

Furthermore, many people with migraines avoid seeking a doctor’s help. This is because most people perceive headaches as relatively small and inconsequential problems. Therefore, these people fear that doctors and nurses will see their problem as something that is insignificant. They may even fear that they will be accused of “faking it,” just to get pain medicine. 

Two other types of headache pain are somewhat similar to and often as disabling as migraine pain. These include tension headaches and cluster headaches. Tension headaches are caused by stress, and are related to muscle spasms or tightness in the back of the head or neck. Usually, it will go away within minutes or hours, but they sometimes do last for days.

Cluster headaches happen frequently, but don’t last very long. They often occur at the same time every year or two years, and can last for six to twelve weeks at a time. They are extremely painful, and often disabling.

Many people take aspirin, ibuprofen, or acetaminophen to relieve their headache pain. Sometimes, they find it necessary to avoid certain foods, noises, or smells that trigger their headaches as well. Sometimes, caffeine, magnesium, and Vitamin B2 work well in helping to treat headaches.

The problem with medicines is that they are expensive and often have many side effects. This is especially true for people who have to use them on an everyday basis. That is why you might want to consider a different way of avoiding the numerous kinds of headache. 

Hypnosis and NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) are effective ways to get rid of the pain in any part of your body, including your head. These treatment approaches can also help you to become much more relaxed as well. Stress is one of the first causes of headache, and specific hypnotic methods exist to get rid of both stress and headaches in a few seconds. 

People who have migraine or cluster headache can usually feel the first symptoms before the pain really occurs, and are able to learn self-hypnosis techniques to abort them before they become too painful. Hypnotists who understand how disabling a headache can be have designed these therapeutic methods. 

Hypnotherapy is a drug free method of treatment that will help you find the relief you are looking for. Headache is a grave affliction with many variations, concerning millions of people throughout the world. Learn to beat it and to relax with the soothing methods of self-hypnosis and NLP.

Alan B. Densky, CH is a Hypnotherapist and NLP Practitioner. He has created a very effective migraine relief self-hypnosis program. His self hypnosis downloads site also offers a free video self hypnosis blog, Free MP3's, and a complete hypnosis article repository.

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