Aug 14 • Wins
Welcome
I created the group out of a need to collate information with regard to migraines and to provide a resource of treatments and self-care which has been successful.
My migraines started in my early 20s when I began working at a research institute in Mpumalanga, where I conducted agricultural research on sub-tropical crops, including mangoes, bananas, guavas, grapefruits, and avocados.
Most of the role was working outside, collecting data from irrigation trials and then processing it in an office. Overall, an ideal work environment working in various conditions with some office work.
My first recognised migraine was after work, enjoying a beer, when it became so unbearable I had to go home to curl up in a dark room. I was able to recover fairly quickly and had few additional ones afterwards.
Fast forward to when I settled in the UK, and migraines started becoming more regular. This was most likely made worse when working at EasyJet Luton HQ, where we had a maintenance hangar behind the office. The amount of fumes from the aircraft was most likely one of the factors which increased migraine regularity. That coupled with long office hours and work stress of working in a small IT team was a factor which increased the regularity of my migraines.
My trigger was increased neck tension. I knew a bad one was imminent when my temples began to ache. This was usually the first indication that a migraine was about to happen. I learned to curb the pain by massaging my temples to remove all the tension.
Although this eased the discomfort, it never resolved it long-term. During this time I was involved in various sporting activities which included Aikido, then gym training as well as more endurance events which included OCR (obstacle course racing).
What I hadnt realised when I injured my right shoulder at the time was that this would be the precursor to several problems and my current migraine situation. I came close to dislocating my shoulder, a couple of months later I started having issues with TMJ when my jaw started clicking. I noticed my jaw alignment was incorrect as well and had to keep my mouth closed to almost force my jaw alignment correct.
This started wearing my teeth unevenly. My own online research into TMJ revealed either worse-case surgical intervention or using mouthpieces to try to force the jaw alignment to correct. I decided to look for alternative treatments and stumbled on my solution. I started massaging my jaw, which eased the tension and began reducing the clicking. I noticed my neck muscles were also a lot tighter, and regular massage removed the tension. Over 3 to 6 months, my TMJ disappeared.
I still had the issue of my pinched nerve in my neck which was causing me discomfort and weakness in my right arm. The shoulder injury caused my shoulder blade to become immobile, and stupid dip training challenges meant I strained the front of my shoulders.
Fast forward post-COVID and I focused on callisthenics exercises and more mobility work to resolve long-term injuries. I finally released the trapped nerve in my neck which I was delighted about. This was the start of my daily migraine doom.
After multiple doctor's appointments and unhelpful medical prescriptions, I again reverted to resolving the underlying issue. I have over the last 2 years developed my own mobility and training routine to reduce the neck tension. I carefully added strength training to improve shoulder stability and significant self massage and dynamic stretching has allowed me to go from full daily migraines to mostly migraine free.
I have also had various treatments like acupuncture, which I found to be marginal in success. I have found that chiropractic treatment improves neck mobility and releases some tension. What it doesn't do is resolve the underlying neck muscle tension.
I have used meditation and stress management techniques to rewire my brain to counter the majority of mental stress. When I do detect an issue, I can deal with it because of the improved mind-body connection from meditation.
My nutrition has been excellent, and I mostly eat good-quality meat and vegetables with very little processed food. This ensures I can maintain good training intensity in the gym and ensures I have optimal nutrition. I avoid alcohol as much as possible, as it makes migraines worse and has a negative training impact.
I am working on long-term being completely migraine-free, but still have some lingering tension, but it's nowhere near what it was.
I do realise that some people will have other triggers, including environmental factors and some food-related issues. Each person has to take responsibility for their health, become their health detective, and find the most optimal way of looking after themselves. There are some universal factors which all migraine sufferers can follow, and this group is to bring them all together into one valuable resource.
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Learn how to recover from migraines and TMJ issues. Practical tools to achieve long-term drug-free pain relief and recovery.
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