What is a Behavioral Approach to Managing Headaches?

The basis of a behavioral approach is that there are habits the headache sufferer has that he/she is unaware of that contribute to the headache pain. These habits occur in two main categories. The first is in the physical arena. Anything that involves your body: how you hold your jaw, clenching your teeth, tight shoulder muscles, to name a few. The second area is how you respond to life stresses. If you have had headaches very long you have coping mechanisms that have translated into muscular tension and an inability to therapeutically relax.

We use biofeedback equipment to monitor the muscle tension in 6 different muscle groups of the head, neck and shoulders. It is always a revelation to the client who THINKS they are relaxed BUT the level of muscle tension is always above normal. That is because their ability to recognized a truly relaxed state has been impaired. Their body has accommodated to what it thinks it feels like to be relaxed, but it no longer is.

So, behavioral management means that first you must pay close attention to your body and become aware of the faulty habits you have. Once you are aware you are clenching your teeth, you can train yourself to stop. It requires some coaching to be able to pick up on sometimes subtle habits that have been with you so long they seem normal to you.

If you are like most headache sufferers you can probably describe in great detail what it feels like to HAVE a headache but not the signals your body is giving you BEFORE you get the headache. And because most headache treatment is to get rid of the pain and not what caused the headache in the first place, without the behavioral piece to the puzzle real, lasting relief is beyond your reach.

Here are some clues which make a behavioral approach a very good choice for eliminating headaches:
1. You have tried 'everything'
2. You anticipate when a headache may happen, your body stays on alert: a perfect set up for a headache to occur
3. You override what your body needs which also keeps it in an alert mode
4. You puts everyone else's needs before your own
5. You do not always pick up on your body signals that tell you to slow down, take a break, etc.
6. Your headaches are more frequent than once a month
7. You are a high achiever, controlling, perfectionist
8. You may also suffer from insomnia, irritable bowel syndrome, and/or anxiety

Once you remove the behavioral triggers you will have reduced and in many cases eliminated your headaches because you are working at the root of the problem. As someone who is prone to headaches there may be times where 'breakthrough' headaches occur but these will become few in number and easily manageable. Because, after the Headache Relief Training, you are in control and know exactly what to do.