Headaches are a very common health complaint. In fact, they are the most common complaint doctors hear from their patients. Headaches affect just about everybody at some point. Headaches can happen occasionally or with alarming frequency. They can be a slight annoyance or incapacitate you with painful throbbing. The type that seems to cause a lot of suffering in people is, without a doubt, a migraine.
In fact, many medical experts consider migraine to be a medical condition. Most people with migraine headache feel the pain in the temples or behind one eye or ear, although any part of the head can be involved. Besides pain, migraines can cause nausea and vomiting and sensitivity to light and sound. If you suffer from this type of headache, you may see spots or flashing lights or even a temporary loss of vision — nasty stuff indeed. Many understandably resort to taking drugs, which unfortunately come with prescription side effects.
Well, here’s some good health news: exercise could help alleviate painful symptoms associated with migraine. Researchers at the Institute of Medical Psychology in Kiel, Germany, conducted a trial, noting that, although exercise is assumed to have a positive effect on migraine pain, none of the few studies done on this topic have offered any conclusive proof. So they set out to find some proof themselves. They devised a clinical trial in which they developed a training program suitable for migraine patients who they could study closely. Sixteen patients were recruited. Eight migraine patients completed a 10-week aerobic running exercise program consisting of three workouts per week, while the remaining eight patients acted as controls.
The research team had an exercise program developed by sports scientists with an eye to specifically increasing the fitness level of the participants.
The researchers assessed the physical working capacity of the participants. Migraine patients in the exercise group were found to have both a reduction in the number of migraine days per month and in the intensity of migraine attacks. These participants also showed an increase in fitness levels, which resulted in lowered stress levels. In fact, the participants reported a lowered tendency towards feelings of anger and the seeking of self-approval from others. The research team concluded that increasing the level of fitness could result in migraine symptom improvement and that aerobic exercise should be considered an alternative therapy method for migraine.
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