Cryotherapy: Prevention for Migraines

Technically, migraine is a disease, while headache is a symptom. Migraine pain is caused by vasodilation in the cranial blood vessels (expansion of the blood vessels). In contrast, headache pain is caused by vasoconstriction (the narrowing of blood vessels).

The treatment for migraine pain is different from the treatment for headache pain since the causes are very different. As any migraine-sufferer knows, a migraine is not a headache.

As a practitioner of cryotherapy, I am intrigued by the use of local cryotherapy in the prevention of migraines and in the treatment of migraine pain. I read a fascinating article, which I will cite here:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3727573/

This research publication describes a randomized controlled trial in which migraine sufferers were treated with neck cooling wraps at the onset of migraine pain. Ice or cooling is vasoconstrictive, so it counteracts the vasodilation that causes migraine pain. The trial determined that neck cooling applied at the onset of migraine reduced pain in participants. This research provides evidence of the potential of targeted cooling to prevent the onset of migraines and reduce migraine pain.

I had the opportunity to test this treatment on a client last night. While driving home, my client experienced a migraine aura.   He drove directly to Chill Cryotherapy and received 4 minutes of hyper-cooling (local cryotherapy) to the back of his neck. Local cryotherapy is the targeted application of extremely cold temperatures to the skin. In this case, the target was the back of the neck. Temperatures range between -180 and -220 °F.

The temperature of ice in a warm environment is roughly 32 degrees. The temperature achieved during local cryotherapy is much colder than ice and, therefore, is much more effective at reducing inflammation and pain and triggering vasoconstriction. Local cryotherapy is also extremely dry — there is no moisture involved. Ice is inherently “wet” and can damage the skin during application.

The client’s migraine aura subsided during the 4-minute treatment and did not come back. His migraine aura did not evolve into migraine pain either; it was essentially terminated.

I wanted to share this experience with anyone who suffers from migraines with or without aura. In the trial cited above, both types of migraine pain were reduced with the application of local cooling.

Chill Cryotherapy offers local cryotherapy services. Sessions last 4 to 5 minutes and can be extremely effective at preventing or reducing migraine pain.