MIGRAINES: PART lll
Real Resolution: To a New Understanding of Migraine Headache Treatment, We Stand Alone
In this, the third of three articles on migraines, I will challenge outdated migraine treatment and present a new understanding of treating migraine headaches. My model approaches migraines caused by trauma associated with whiplash and concussive conditions. Over the past two decades in my career as a healthcare professional, I have developed an advanced understanding and treatment approach to addressing such migraine headaches, The Swearington Method, which utilizes my hypertonic muscle deactivation (HMD) apparatus.
This comprehensive treatment offers a very high degree of success, while presenting no negative side effects or drug-induced reactions. I designed this approach to address what has been missing in the treatment and resolution of the migraine headache.
HYPERTONIC MUSCLE DEACTIVATION (HMD)
The HMD is a hypertonic muscle deactivation apparatus designed to deactivate hypertonic foundations that reside within everyone’s physical structure. Its purpose is to rebalance the physical abnormalities of neuromuscular spindle fiber and create a normal flow of circulation. The treatment process has a three-stage approach. All three stages of spindle fiber deactivation must be addressed in order to complete the resolution of migraine headache conditions.
Based on my hypothesis that migraines are not caused by vessel inflammation, but by vessel constriction external to the brain, I treated ten patients—all of whom suffered from menstrual-related migraines that were incapacitating them for two to three days per month, followed by lingering exhaustion (and all of whom used pillow propping to manage their pain)—with the HMD apparatus. This would test my hypothesis that the migraine condition is a vascular constriction condition originating posteriorly within the triad and referring pain into the posterior and lateral cranium.
Indeed, when I addressed my patients’ upper posterior quadrant or (triad) with the HMD apparatus the results were compelling. I was able to stimulate the exact pathway into the neck and cranium by which the genesis of the migraine condition was derived and magnify the symptoms tenfold.
The first patient experienced some muscle discomfort in the targeted, stressed-related regions. However, that discomfort subsided relatively quickly. And after the first 10 minutes of treatment, the results were extremely promising, with the patient experiencing a significant dissipation of pressure from the region of the upper back, neck, and cranium. After 20 minutes, a continued decrease of pressure was noted in the posterior triangular region of the neck and head. After 30 minutes of treatment, the patient was free of pressure around the posterior triangular region in the neck and cranium.
This process was repeated with nine different patients, rendering the same positive results. Although limited by the number of patients, at this time my unpublished research has also shown some promising and consistent results in shifting the perception of migraines based on the hormonal imbalance of women during the period of their menses, and aligns with my hypothesis that migraines are, by and large, caused by vessel constriction that is quite likely caused by physiological neck or head trauma—and only exacerbated by the physical tensions associated with the hormonal shifts of the menstrual cycle.
HYPOTHESIS
My theory is that 90% of common migraines and headaches are conditions, and not diseases, and that they are associated within two primary upper quadrants of the body, along the posterior triangular region of the rhomboideus, neck, and head, which I call “foundations.” These foundations govern and control the symptomatic conditions of cranial muscular nerve hypertonicity (CMNH). In other words, my theory suggests that nerve inflammation is not the byproduct of migraine, but of vascular nerve and muscle contraction. Understanding this triad of muscle spindle hypertonicity is the pathway to understanding the condition.
It is believed that early vascular theory popularized the notion that migraines were caused by hypoxemia secondary to vasoconstriction, and that the headache was the result of rebound vasodilation. However, when it was found that reduced blood flow was still present at the onset of headaches, it became evident that the vascular theory could not account for all the features of migraines.
My hypothesis is based on twenty years of research into patterns of habitual behavior and physical trauma caused by accidents. It is supported by my successful treatment of over one hundred cases of headache and migraine, with two- to five-year follow-ups—including that of a patient who is fully recovered after a 46-year history of migraines.
IN SUMMARY
There is an enormous amount of pressure placed on healthcare providers to resolve the migraine condition, when their training does not prepare them for such problems. Even if it did, providers’ time restraints will never allow for addressing conditions that require a manual approach. And in many cases, migraine conditions can simply be so overwhelming that providers feel overmatched by what their patients are presenting. Thus, they revert back to their training, which suggests it is better to prescribe something than nothing, and which allows the patient to feel at least something was done to help their condition.
It is not that medical providers do not care—they do. But because they believe they are looking at a disease and not a condition, they limit their options for intervention. Therefore, I argue that no amount of drug, surgical intervention, or nerve stimulation will resolve the headache mystery until the underlying causes are understood.
In my many years of treating migraine headaches, I have come to realize that our understanding has remained centered on migraine being a disease and not a condition. We have embraced data which has misled us to see migraines as some kind of genetic disorder without questioning that logic. But if we don’t ask the right questions, we can speculate on the meaning of all the various research stats and treatments of transcranial magnetic occipital nerve and supraorbital nerve stimulation, yet never understand what they have done to get us closer to the genesis of the migraine condition.
The common treatment for migraines cannot be drugs, surgery, or electric stimuli, as history has shown all of these approaches to be a complete failure. It is my opinion that migraines can only be resolved by understanding the comprehensive physical and emotional history of the patient.
Patients who walk into any medical office, be it allopathic or alternative, have a clear way of expressing their problem. They state that their heads hurt and that the pain is disrupting their daily ability to function normally. However, they are not always able to articulate their experiences well. They lose track of their medical history to explain their condition. Thus, we often assume that we are dealing with “just a headache,” unrelated to a concussion syndrome that may have occurred a decade ago. This is because concussion and migraine headache conditions have not been equated with one another.
In my experience of addressing migraines, I have found it essential to discover when a patient first became aware of the initial symptoms of oncoming migraines—such as tautness in the neck and head, sweating, nausea, lightheadedness, and overall pressure—as opposed to the chronic migraine state, which requires medical intervention. I believe migraines have a clear cause-and-effect reaction with many exacerbating triggers. In my experience, migraines are progressive conditions caused by physical trauma with continuous symptomatic triggers—which have been well documented.
This condition will never be resolved by any drug-related panacea or surgery, since the condition is organic, physiological, and must be addressed as such, by asking our patients—and ourselves—the right questions and providing the appropriate treatment based on the answers we discover. In this way, I believe that today’s medical consensus that migraines have no cure will be proved wrong, and our patients will benefit from the new paradigms for treatment.
I hope that in reading these articles, you have gained a greater understanding of the potential cause of your migraine headache condition, and that some of the things I’ve mentioned may trigger a memory that will allow you to recognize and trust the process of a new and advanced approach to addressing migraine conditions.