EFT Tapping For Headaches: A Path To Overcoming Migraines
In this blog, you're going to learn about migraines, common triggers, signs and symptoms of migraines, and how to overcome migraines using EFT Tapping for headaches.
Do you suffer from migraines?
Do you feel it is more than just a headache?
Headaches are not uncommon, everyone experiences, at least, one headache in their lifetime. However, there's a thin line separating ordinary headaches or tension headaches from migraine headaches, which is, throbbing pain.
Ordinary headaches do cause pain. They are generally associated with fatigue, insufficient sleep, stress levels, and allergens. The ordinary headaches that generate pain signals hurting your head can be successfully reduced and treated with medications or rest.
A migraine, on the other hand, is a serious medical disorder generally identified by non-ordinary headaches. Pain is often used as the exemplary symptom of a migraine. It is difficult for non-migraine sufferers to even imagine the intensity of pain a single attack can cause.
“And then a throb hits you on the left side of the head so hard that your head bobs to the right...There's no way that came from inside your head, you think. That's no metaphysical crisis. God just punched you in the face”.
Andrew Levy
WHAT IS A MIGRAINE?
Migraines are defined as neurological conditions characterised by strong and recurring headaches.
They are typically identified by throbbing pain on one side of the head. However, it can also be both.
Being hereditary in nature, migraines often run in families. They can last from a few hours to a few days.
The intensity and susceptibility of migraine varies on an individual basis and is most likely determined by the number of genes inherited between families.
BASIC MECHANISM OF A MIGRAINE
There are several theories surrounding the basic mechanisms of migraines.
Migraine attack is known to initiate in the Central Nervous System (CNS) and gets triggered by a combination of genetic and environmental changes that make an individual more sensitive to environmental factors.
One of the hypotheses on how migraines work, suggests this complex disorder is caused by an unwanted interaction of nerve impulses, resulting in the release of chemicals that disrupt certain brain areas.
In fact, early PET studies have suggested the involvement of a migraine-active region in the brainstem (1).
If these episodic migraines, also known as less frequent headache episodes, are not treated early on, they transform into chronic migraines.
Studies suggest that these more frequent headache patterns are associated with abnormalities in the brainstem that may be progressive in nature (1).
SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF MIGRAINES
Every disease or medical condition has a general pattern. The same is true for migraines.
The primary symptom of a migraine is a headache that can cause moderate to severe pain. But coming back to that question again, how can you distinguish between an ordinary headache and a migraine headache?
There are four phases associated with migraines; each phase consisting of its own set of signs and symptoms. The phases are as follows:
1.
Prodrome
Beginning with the earliest phase—Prodrome. It starts somewhere around one to two days before the pain phase. The symptoms include:
Constipation
Neck stiffness
Mood swings or mood changes, from depression to euphoria
Increased thirst and urination
2.
Aura
Aura is one of those phases which can either occur before a migraine attack or during the pain phase. The symptoms include:
Visual disturbances, such as flashes of light, bright spots or shapes
Loss of vision
The feeling of pins and needles in an arm or leg
Weakness in one side of the body or face
Trouble speaking
Auditory disturbances, such as hearing noises or music
Involuntary spasms or other movements
3.
Attack
The phase that we alluded to above as the pain phase is also known as the attack phase. This is where the throbbing headache kicks in and it can last up to 72 hours if left untreated.
The symptoms of the attack phase include:
A throbbing headache, usually on one side of the head, but sometimes on both
Sensitivity to light, sound, and sometimes smell and touch
Nausea and vomiting
4.
Post-Drome
When the migraine passes and the pain phase begins to subside, the post-drome phase arrives. During this phase, you may feel drained or elated. There's hardly anything in between.
WHAT ARE THE COMMON TRIGGERS OF MIGRAINES?
Every individual has some frightening life experiences that start taking a toll on their lives and trigger them every time anything related to those events is discussed or displayed.
Some examples of common triggers are (2):
The anniversary dates of traumas and losses
Frightening news events
Too many tasks to do
Feeling overwhelmed
Family friction
The end of a loving relationship
Spending too much time alone
Being judged, criticised, teased, or put down
Financial problems, unexpected bills
Sexual harassment
Being yelled at
Aggressive-sounding noises or exposure to anything that makes you feel uncomfortable
Being around those who have treated you badly
Certain smells, tastes, or noises
CAN YOU CURE PHYSICAL PAIN CAUSED BY MIGRAINES?
Sadly, there is no perfect cure for migraines. Thus, aiming to get rid of it completely is not a healthy perspective to have.
You can always work on reducing the pain caused by migraines using techniques like Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT).
WHAT IS EFT AND HOW TO CURE HEADACHE PAIN WITH EFT TAPPING?
EFT Tapping is a simple technique based on the principle of clearing negative emotions and liberating the body and mind from pent-up feelings.
It is a form of alternative therapy method involving intentional, gentle tapping with fingertips on acupuncture meridian endpoints while speaking out specific statements.
The root cause of the migraine pain could be the suppression of emotions and not being able to express yourself authentically. These stuck emotions disrupt energy in the meridians in our bodies.
EFT helps in revealing these emotions that have been buried inside for a long period and also helps in releasing them by tapping on the acupuncture points along with acknowledging the problem.
EFT TAPPING POINTS
The common acupuncture points used in EFT are:
- Top of the head
- Eyebrow
- Side of the eye
- Under the eye
- Under the nose
- Chin
- Karate Chop point on the hand
- Collarbone
- Under the arm
When tapping on these meridian points, while saying out statements aloud, calming responses reverberate through your body, allowing you to reprogram. Soon with EFT, a change in energy is experienced and you start recovering from the trauma faced initially.
EFT TAPPING FOR MIGRAINES
If you are a patient yourself or healing a client, use the following steps:
Step 1:
First, use EFT tapping on what the migraine headache feels like
Explore the physical sensations in the body associated with the headache and use the following tapping process to reduce the sensations.
1.
To get started, begin by investigating the physical nature of migraine.
Connect with the symptoms and notice where you feel sensations in the body.
Ask yourself the following questions and write them down if you want:
How does it feel to have a migraine?
What makes me anxious about migraines?
What negative beliefs does the migraine headache trigger in me?
If I were no longer anxious or worried about migraines, what would my routine activities look like?
Now, bring into your awareness a time when you felt affected by migraine headaches. Briefly, you can also ask yourself the following questions to explore further:
Where in the body did you experience pain triggering?
What is the colour, texture, size, and shape of the pain in the body?
What are the sensations like? For example, rough or smooth.
2.
Measure the level of headache
Measure the level of headache by asking,
"What number is the headache at, where 10 is really high and 1 is not high at all."
Answer whatever comes to your mind at the moment, don't overthink it.
3.
Tap on the Karate Chop
Begin by tapping on the Karate chop or side of the hand tapping points,
“Even though I feel anxious when my migraine headache reappears and the medications that used to help me seemingly do not have an effect, as usual, I deeply and completely love and accept myself."
Repeat this 3 times.
4.
Tap on the facial tapping points
Start tapping on the upper body, facial, and finger-tapping points for migraine headaches using these phrases:
Eyebrow: This pain...
Side of the eye: So painful...
Under the eye: Pain in my chest...
Under the nose: It's a red colour...
Chin: At a number 6...
Collarbone: So rough...
Under the arm: This pain...
Thumb: I feel it in my chest...
Index finger: So painful...
Middle finger: Really painful...
Little finger: The colour red...
5.
Close the sequence
Close the sequence by coming back to the EFT Karate Chop tapping points and repeat once,
“Even though I feel anxious when my migraine headache reappears and the medications that used to help me seemingly do not have an effect, as usual, I deeply and completely love and accept myself.”
6.
Relax:
Take a gentle breath in, release it out, and take a sip of water.
7.
Test:
At the end of the EFT Tapping, you can ask yourself the following questions:
Now, what number is the pain at?
What happens when you think about your migraine?
How does it make you feel?
If it has reduced to a level that you're satisfied with, you can stop. Or you can repeat this process by going back to Step 1 if you feel like the number could come down a little more.
Step 2:
Discover past experiences of painful feelings caused by migraine headaches and clear them.
To uncover the memories linked to migraines, ask the following questions:
When have you felt these sensations before?
What do these sensations remind you of?
When did the sensations start? What happened?
What can trigger and bring on the symptoms?
Identify past events linked to the feeling of these symptoms and resolve them with the help of tapping therapy.
You can ask the following questions:
When have you felt the symptoms before?
What triggers the symptoms in you?
Who or what triggers the feelings associated with the symptoms?
These questions will identify your past experiences associated with migraine pain.
Step 3:
Explore any limiting beliefs that prevented you from being pain-free
Limiting beliefs are thoughts that can be conscious or unconscious and can end up becoming responsible for self-sabotage, procrastination, and low self-esteem in an individual.
For pain, first uncover the limiting beliefs which can either be at the surface level or emerging from a deeper root cause, which are often the repressed memories.
Explore deeply the themes that make your experience difficult. For example, you can ask yourself:
What makes me feel angrier?
What makes me feel more stressed?
What makes me more bothered about others?
What makes me feel it's going to be ok?
Then replace the negative beliefs with more empowering ones.
For example,
“Something bad is going to happen” to “Everything is going to be OK."
"It is not safe" to "I am safe now."
Follow the tapping sequence after this.
Step 4:
Close with positive EFT Tapping
Examples of a positive tapping sequence are as follows:
“Even though I felt painful, now, I am open to feeling pain-free.”
“Even though it's really hard and I worried about it, what if I could relax now?”
“Even though when I get angry and frustrated and it makes it worse, I know it's going to be ok, it gets better. I know it's going to be ok.”
“Even though I was living with this pain for many months, now, I open myself to the possibility of being pain-free."
CONCLUSION
EFT tapping is not a way to force yourself into believing false affirmations. Rather, it is a technique you use to deal with mental issues by accepting yourself the way you are.
In other words, EFT allows your body's energy to tune itself into a more positive flow and does not let a disease overpower you.
As my students say, EFT tapping is indeed an amazing tool to help you deal with the pain and stress associated with migraines.
This is the time to choose between fighting back and letting it beat you.
Continue to learn and explore!
Love,
Dr Rangana Rupavi Choudhuri (PhD)
P.S. Want to discover if EFT is right for you? Book a Complimentary Discovery Call.
In summary, migraine headaches are not easy to deal with. When medications fail to provide you relief, astonishing results can be brought forward by the combination of lifestyle changes and EFT tapping. It helps you tap away all your deep-seated negative emotions, worries, and thoughts and tune your body's energy into a more positive flow. This is your sign to try out EFT therapy on yourself!
References:
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