How it feels to get treated

My name is Claire, I am 32 and I have been suffering from migraine since I was 16. I used to have one attack a week, which would last from 1-4 days. Before finding this physical therapy method I was unable to treat it, with either medicines or alternative treatments. This is my account of receiving the migraine treatment.

I received the treatment about 1 hour into my migraine attack. my pain was at a 7.5 at that point, I was wearing sunglasses and was very nauseous, my head was hurting, pulsating mainly on my right side, and behind my eye. A typical migraine. My expectation was for it to last 1-2 days. It wasn’t the worst, but then again, it was only starting.

The treatment started with me sitting in a chair, the therapist explained the session, and what caught my attention the most was his mentioning of how “things might come up and I just want you to flow along”. I wasn’t sure at the time what he meant, and I have to admit I was quite skeptical, boy was I in for a surprise.

He started to press in some point in my abdomen and my nausea just grew intensely, I felt I was going to vomit if he continued. After about 2 minutes he paused the treatment, and just stood next to my chair instructing me to breath in a certain way and moving my head a bit. Suddenly my body began to wretch, and somehow it felt good. I have to add here that I hate vomiting, I will practically do anything just not to vomit, but this felt different, my body was calm, and was doing it itself, then I took a deep breath in, the therapist told me it was my neurological system coming back into balance. And then the nausea was gone. And with it… I would say maybe a third of the pain. I wasn’t expecting that, and I can’t explain how that happened (although my therapist did try to explain to me). The nausea just wasn’t there.

He then pressed into my ribs I felt vibrations moving along my spine and into my head and tears welled up in my eyes, I was feeling this deep sadness that I had no idea had any connection to my migraines. From my ribs he went to my back, where I felt nothing and then into my neck. My migraine was at a 5 now. Not bad, not having nausea was amazing, and I would suffice with this. But he said we could do more. So he started pressing on my neck in some places, and the pain jumped back through the roof. I was back at an 8, he was pressing on the neck, but I was feeling it in the head. He told me it was a good sign. So I wanted him to continue.

From the neck he went to the base of my skull and asked me to move my eyes from side to side. He continued to press on various parts on my head, asking me to breath through my mouth, and relax my face, at times he was pulling on parts of the skin. Each time he finished working on one part I would feel part of the migraine go away, and what was left moved to another part of the head. He told me this would happen, but I didn’t take him seriously until I felt it myself. He was asking me about this progression and he looked like it made sense to him.

I had a strong sense that he was following some sort of inner map for my body. He knew all the points of tension or extreme sensation, and it seemed like he also understood something I don’t about how they’re connected and how pain moves between them.

When he was pressing it was like all my sensations, the light around me, the sounds, were condensing into the pain I call my migraine. And when he let go it dissipated. Around the point he was working on my temples and my forehead, with a very weird pull on the skin I have to add, I started to feel that my pain was shifting into something else, if before every time he pressed it became more painful and then relaxed, now it was just about… I can only describe it as currents. That with each technique moved from one place to another. Images, memories, and wordless emotions started to arise, I asked if I should focus on these, and he said we can, but it’s not necessary. My pain was now down to a 3, and located just on the direct top of my head. He asked me to relax and made a kind of pull on my hair, and as he did that I felt like a jolt going from the top of my head to my forehead, my eyes, and my neck. And then it was gone. I just was completely free of pain, the light didn’t bother me, I could think. And all I could say was “shit”. It was stupendous, It was just gone, like I hadn’t had an attack half an hour ago. It was crazy. It still is.

I do a home treatment now, about 20 minutes per day, and I come to get preventive treatments once a month. And what can I say… I tried everything, Triptans, Aimovig, acupuncture, massage, yoga, chiropractic adjustments. I changed my diet, my sleep habits, and nothing helped. Until I tried this. I have no idea how it works, only that it does, I hope this helps you too!

Love,
Claire.