The art of dealing with headaches

New research demonstrates that art therapy practices can reduce headache frequency.

A three-week pilot study involving adolescent girls aged 14 to 17 years who had experienced stress-triggered headaches or migraines participated in an intervention that combined mindfulness with art. Comprising of 50-minute sessions twice-weekly, teens were prompted to draw how they felt using watercolours, pastels, markers, crayons and pencils before and after mindfulness interventions.

Results demonstrated a 37% reduction in the number of headaches experienced between baseline and treatment end… In addition to a 34% decrease in momentary stress.

So although a little quirky, yet innovative, encouraging patients to express themselves artistically may provide an effective alternative when managing stress-driven headaches.