While boosting your mobility and strengthening your muscles, a new study from the American Academy of Neurology has revealed that yoga can also be an effective tool against migraines.
The study, published in the journal Neurology, suggests that yoga alone might be a better treatment than your regularly prescribed migraine medication. It may help people with migraines have less frequent headaches that do not last as long and are less painful.
Migraines are more intense than common headaches and are, typically, characterised by a throbbing pain on one side of the head. They are, often, accompanied by nausea, dizziness and sensitivity to light and sound. Migraines can last anywhere from a few hours to a few days.
“Migraine is one of the most common headache disorders, only about half the people taking medication for it get real relief. The good news is that practicing something as simple and accessible as yoga may help much more than medications alone and all you need is a mat,” said Dr Rohit Bhatia, lead author of the study and a member of the American Academy of Neurology.
For the study, researchers surveyed and observed 114 people between the ages of 18 and 50 who had episodic migraine. These participants were randomly assigned to two groups based on the treatment prescribed – only medication or yoga along with medication.
Those in the yoga group were taught a one-hour yoga practice that included breathing, relaxation exercises and postures. Participants in this group were supervised by a yoga instructor three days a week for one month. Then they were asked to practise at home on their own, for five days a week over the next two months.
Both groups received appropriate medications and counselling about lifestyle changes that might help with migraine, such as getting adequate sleep, eating regular meals and exercising. Participants were also asked to keep a log to record how long their headaches lasted, how severe they were and which medications they took.
Researchers observed that people improved in the medication-only group as well as the yoga group, but the benefit was higher in the yoga group in all areas, including headache frequency, pain intensity and use of medications as well as how much the migraine interfered with daily life.
Specifically, the yoga group started with an average of 9.1 headaches per month and ended the study logging just 4.7 headaches per month -- a 48% reduction in headache frequency. Comparatively, the medication-only group reported an average of 7.7 headaches per month at the start of the study and 6.8 at the end of three months, a 12% decrease. Furthermore, the average number of pills the participants in the yoga group used decreased by 47% after three months. Meanwhile, the average number of pills the medication-only group used decreased by 12%.
Speaking about the findings of the study, Dr Bhatia said, “Our results show that yoga can reduce not just the pain, but also the treatment cost of migraines. That can be a real game changer, especially for people who struggle to afford their medication. Medications are usually prescribed first, and some can be expensive.”
The study, however, has limitations in the fact that participants reported the information about their headaches themselves, so the results may not be consistent in some cases. Dr Bhatia also noted that the study lasted only three months and that more research is needed to determine whether the benefits of yoga would last for a longer period.
