When Adam got off the bus after school, he knew what to expect. By the time he walked through the kitchen door, his head had begun to throb and his stomach was churning. Objects were surrounded with a sickish aura of light and he saw jagged patterns whenever he shifted his eyes. Despite his nausea, he took two Tylenol and made it to his bedroom. Lights off, head under the covers, Adam waited for his mom to come home from work. He knew he wouldn't do any homework today. But he was too sick to care or to worry about his plummeting grades. He didn't even think about the appointment next week with his Neurotherapist to start HEG Neurofeedback.

Migraine headaches are extremely common among children, as well as adults. Nobody knows why, but young and middle-aged women are especially susceptible. The usual medical "remedy" is high-powered painkillers and vasoconstricting drugs that treat the pain but not the cause.

Migraines occur when blood vessels expand and push against sensitive tissue. Persons with migraines tend to be chronically tense, but ironically it is when they finally relax that the migraine strikes. This is why migraines often happen on Friday afternoon, when the person is able to relax after a week at work or school.

Little known to the general run of physicians, even to neurologists, there are other ways to treat migraine. Among the most successful are self-control strategies using HEG Neurofeedback.

HEG (Hemoencephalography - the study of brain blood flow) Neurofeedback simply means giving you information about your physiological states and allowing you to learn to control them.

HEG Neurofeedback is a way to gain conscious control over one's physiology: mind over matter. But, in a deeper sense, HEG Neurofeedback is also a way to tune into your body's wisdom, turn off your mind, and allow your brain to self-regulate. This mind-body unity is achieved when your conscious mind is in a state of focused relaxation -- quiet but highly alert. It is like the state of "flow" that successful athletes sometimes feel when they "just know" the putt will go into the hole or when the story just writes itself.

Classical HEG Neurofeedback for migraine involves learning to warm the hands, reduce sweating, slow down breathing, and lower muscle tension. There are separate instruments that measure each of these, and information is presented to the client on a computer screen. By controlling a display - similar to a hands free video game - these physiological processes such as migraines, stress, and anxiety - become normalized.

The results over the years have been striking: about 80-90% of clients report significant improvement in migraine frequency or intensity, and over half have no migraines at all following the treatment.

For more info contact the Biofeedback Institute of Los Angeles at 323.930.8500 or visit: BrainExerciseWorks.com