A simple and free solution to migraines has been shown to be twice as effective as traditional remedies, a new study has shown.
Researchers from NYU Langone Health have developed an app that guides patients with migraines through progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) therapy.
To do PMR, you systematically tense each muscle group in your body for several seconds, then slowly release the tension while focusing on the feeling of relaxation.
In a recent study, the researchers found that patients who practiced PMR techniques daily for 60 days using the app, had almost a 50 percent reduction in their migraine headache pain.
Additionally, the percentage of patients who had at least a five-point improvement in the score of their migraine-related disability nearly doubled for those who used the app compared to people who did not.
The clinical trial involved 69 participants aged 18 to 65 who visited NYU Langone Health’s emergency departments for migraines between 2019 and 2021.
Participants were randomly assigned to use either the ‘RELAXaHEAD app, which is available for free in Apple and Google app stores, along with progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) for several minutes a day or to be in a control group that only used the app as headache diary.
The study used the Migraine Disability Assessment Score (MIDAS), a questionnaire that asks about the number of days over three months that migraine caused a person to miss work, school, or social events.
Each question is scored from 0 to 7, with higher scores indicating greater disability.
Researchers from NYU Langone Health have developed an app which guides patients with migraines through progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) therapy (stock image)
The total MIDAS score ranges from 0 to 35.
The number of study patients that had at least a five-point improvement in their MIDAS scores was 82 percent among those practicing the PMR techniques compared to 46 percent of those who did not.
The research team also found that those who used PMR more frequently experienced better outcomes, suggesting a dose-response relationship. The results of the research were published in JAMA Network Open.
Lead study author Dr Mia Minen, the associate professor in the Departments of Neurology and Population Health at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, said: ‘Our findings highlight the potential of smartphone-based interventions to empower patients in managing their own migraine, and in reducing migraine-related disability without medication.
‘[It will] hopefully reduce the rate at which patients return to the emergency department for migraine.’
All of the participants were asked to use the app as a daily symptom-based reporting diary.
This included recording headache days, sleep, medications, medication adverse effects, menstrual cycle, and notes for optional use.
Participants in the control group were not given access to the PMR audio files.
The audio files included a five-minute deep-breathing session, a six-minute PMR session (brief), a longer 12.5-minute PMR session, and an 8.5-minute muscle scan session, where where a person mentally ‘scans’ their muscles for tension.
Participants in the PMR group were asked to complete the app-based PMR for 10 to 15 minutes daily for a minimum of 60 days but to aim for daily use during the 90-day treatment period.
Dr Shilagh Mirgain, who was not involved in the study, reveals on the US Department of Veterans Affairs website that PMR is ‘one of the simplest and easiest to learn techniques for relaxation’.
It was originally developed by Dr. Edmund Jacobson in the early 1920s. Dr. Jacobson published Progressive Relaxation in 1938, detailing this method of relaxation involving alternately tensing and relaxing 14 different muscle groups.
PMR was originally used to treat symptoms of anxiety, but Dr Mirgain noted that more recently it has been found to be effective for treating tension headaches, migraines, temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJ), neck pain, insomnia, bipolar disorder, anxiety, backaches, and high blood pressure.
Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR) participant satisfaction and usage by week in the study
The results from a 2021 National Health Interview Survey showing the percentage of adults who have been bothered ‘a lot’ by a headache or migraine in the past three months
Moving forward, the NYU Langone Health team is conducting a large-scale clinical study to evaluate the study app for people with migraine, not in emergency departments, but instead in primary care settings, where such patients most often present for care.
A migraine is a neurological condition that causes severe throbbing pain or a pulsing sensation, usually on one side of the head.
More than just a typical headache, migraines, which affect about 39 million Americans, can worsen with movement, lights and sounds and cause nausea, vomiting, numbness in limbs and vision changes.
The severity of the pain caused from migraines may vary from person to person, however, it can spread from the head to around the eyes, face, sinuses, jaw and neck and can interfere with regular life.
Before a migraine hits, sufferers may feel tired, crave certain foods of experience changes in mood or a stiff neck.
Others warning signs—collectively known as ‘an aura’—includes vision problems, such as seeing zigzag lines or flashing lights, numbness or a tingling that feels like pins and needles, dizziness and difficulty speaking.
But a migraine can come on without any warning, too.
A migraine attack can last for hours to days.
While treatments such as over-the-counter and prescription pain relievers and lifestyle changes can help deal with the pain, they can come with a host of undesirable side effects and hefty costs.
While researchers are yet to discover the exact cause of migraines, some believe that specific nerves in blood vessels can send pain signals to the brain.
This releases inflammatory substances into the head’s nerves and blood vessels – causing a strong throbbing or pulsing pain.
Stress, anxiety and emotional triggers can also release chemicals in the brain that contribute to migraines.
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