I am 51 years old. One of my first memories as a boy of five or six is havingaa migraine headache. All throughout my pre-teen, teen-age, and young adult years I suffered from migraine headaches. Normally I would have one to two migraines per week and one or two non-migraines per week.As I reached my forties I started using B.C. and Goodies headache powder to combat headaches. They would often work like a charm, in fact within an hour or two my headaches would be completely gone. There were two problems with the headache powders (you can include Excedrin in this package too); they would more often than not lead to rebound headaches, which were often even worse than the first. Second, these medications were very addictive. The more often I took them, the more I felt that I needed them. With the rebound headache syndrome, I got into a state where I constantly needed relief. I got to the point where I was taking them every day. Then it was two times per day almost every day. Some days I would take as many as four or five. I was terribly addicted.
This Doesn't Sound like Relief!
It wasn't, it really wasn't. By my early forties I had headaches of one degree or another almost every day. And almost every week I would have one or two migraines that the powders just could not get rid of. It was terrible. My social life was completely dead. I couldn't hardly go out of the house for fear I would get a headache. Whenever I went somewhere with my family it was miserable. I was in near-constant pain. Couldn't go out to dinner with my family for fear of a migraine. I was mean, angry and no one wanted to be around me. My work was suffering and I was absolutely miserable.
I had to do something different. It was at this point that I started going to doctors often for headaches. Not that I had never been to a doctor before but now I started a concentrated effort to use doctor's services. I went to chiropractors, spinologists, cranial-sacral chiropractors, naturopathic physicians, medical doctors, neurologists and acupuncture specialists; all to no avail. I received some slight relief from one naturopath that I went to but it was limited.
Along the way I heard that vigorous exercise may be a good help for migraine headaches or headaches of any kind. The thing was, I had been an exercise enthusiast for years. I had tried that several times also without a lot of success. In fact I was a avid runner. Almost every time I got back from a run, I would have a headache.
Has Anything Helped?
I am happy to say that there is one thing that I have discovered fairly recently (within the last six months) that has provided a great deal of relief. Of all the medications, prescriptions, over-the-counter medications and exercises that I have used or done this has been the most beneficial of all.
Loving exercise as I do, a couple of years ago I bought a Chuck Norris Total Gym. I had also tried to use the Total Gym for headache relief but didn't really get significant help until recently. I started a new routine on the Chuck Norris Total Gym that has provided incredible relief. There are a few key points that I need to mention:1. First, it is really critical that you do this routine when your headache starts, don't wait until it becomes a full-blown migraine.
2. The Total Gym provides different levels of exercise. Level "one" is far easier than level "six". Over the time that I have had the Total Gym I have worked my way up to exercising at a level six. But when using the equipment for headaches, I lower it to a level "four". This may sound counter-intuitive but it has helped my headaches far more at a lower level than at the maximum level.
3. When exercising to the max, I generally do each exercise three sets of twelve repetitions. When exercising for headache relief I start out, as I said before, at a lower level and do more reps. For instance I often work at a level four and do sixteen to eighteen reps.
4. Sometimes, after I have completed one set of my exercise routine, my headache is gone. If this happens, I often quit and save my strength in case the headache comes back later in the day or the next day. When working out for strength I would exercise every other day. By using a lower than maximum level, I can usually work out two or even three days in a row without needing a day off. Especially if I don't go the full three sets.
5. When working out hard for strength, I will take a rest between sets. For example, I will do my set of twelve exercises and then rest for about three to five minutes before I proceed to the second. Then after the second I will rest a similar amount of time before I go on the third. When exercising for headache relief, I try hard not to rest between sets.
Here is the exercise routine that I use for headache relief. For those of you who have a Total Gym, this will be much easier to understand. For those of you who don't I have included pictures at the bottom of the article.
Exercise 1 - # 81 on the Total Gym Cards – Hamstring Stretch (nothing difficult to start with)
Exercise 2 - #5 – Incline Pushups
Exercise 3 - #8 – Chin Ups
Exercise 4 - #26 – Lying Leg Curl
Exercise 5 - #52 – Incline Situps
Exercise 6 - #84 – Toe Touch Stretch
Exercise 7 - #66 – Leg Curl with Fly
Exercise 8 - #67 – Leg Curl with Straight Arm Life
Exercise 9 - #68 – Leg Curl with Biceps Curl
Exercise 10 - #69 – Leg Curl with Upright Row
Exercise 11 - #70 – Let Curl with Seated Surfer
Exercise 12 - #33 – Outer Hips and Thigh
My strategy is to work at a level lower than my maximum. The max that I work out on the Total Gym is level six. When working out for headaches I work at level four. On my first rep I generally do each exercise sixteen to eighteen reps. After I complete the first set I take a drink of water and proceed to the second set of 12-16 reps right away, that is if my headache is not gone. If, during the second exercise I still feed a headache I will usually did a third set of eight to twelve reps.
Results
The results I have received from this exercise strategy have been incredible. When I start this exercise routine soon after I start feeling a headache it takes away the pain after one set about 40% of the time. On the occasions where the pain is not gone after one set about 50% of the time my headaches are gone after a second (and usually a third) set. In other words, when I do this exercise routine on the Total Gym as I have described above, my headaches are eliminated almost 90% of the time, when I start shortly after the pain has started.
I know sometimes I am not in a position to exercise at all when a headache comes on. How effective is the Total Gym after I have already developed a headache? Granted, the effectiveness does go down some, although the first thing I do when I get back home to my Total Gym is my custom headache routine. I have eliminated several headaches that were very well formed with the Total Gym.
I started documenting the headache relief I have been receiving about a month ago. Since I have started documention I have had headaches to one degree or another thirteen times over this time period (November to December, 2010). Ten of them I was able to catch real early, two were pretty well formed before I got to exercise (11/29 and 12/2). In every case but one (12/19/2010) my custom Total Gym workout eliminated my headache. Although not documented, most of these occurrences start sometime between 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. So without knocking them out they would have resulted in a long day of suffering.
Do I ever get Benefits from B.P., Goodies or other Headache Medication?
The good news is, yes. Sometimes the headache gets beyond the point of exercise or sometimes I am just not in a position where I can exercise. If that is the case, I ometimes use either a Goodies powder or a B.P., but only as a last resort. But, I have to be very careful! For instance, I need to be especially cautious how many I take and how often.
First, I would recommend not taking more than two per week for fear of the rebound headache syndrome. Second, I need to be careful when I take them. I nearly always, if possible, use my custom exercise program first before I even consider taking this type of medication. And third, if I do take one, I need to be especially careful the next day or two. If I feel a headache starting to come on, I immediately go to the Total Gym, which usually knocks it out. I especially don't want to get headaches of any degree two days in a row. Sometimes I find myself exercising twice on the day after taking a Goodies or B.P. I especially don't want another headache to the degree where I need to take this kind of medication again that quickly.
Pictures of the Exercises
Here are pictures of the twelve exercises in my custom Total Gym workout for headache elimination. I sincerely hope it helps others as much as it has me!
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