Paint Your Migraines Away
Did you know that you could paint your migraines away? Yes, experts are here claiming that migraines sufferers find much refuge in artistic expression like paintings. Tiffany Slayburgh, a migraine sufferer who stood first at a Migraine Masterpiece Art Contest funded by the National Headache Foundation confirms that painting is a powerful tool in expressing one’s emotions.
Slayburgh who was bearing up with severe headaches and nauseatic tendencies since the past 5 years says that it was a relieving experience to paint her headaches away.
Art Heals
Art has found its place as a therapy with Randy Vick, MS from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago claiming that art has the “healing power” which is not experienced by trained artists alone but by anyone who strokes the freshly dipped brushes on a lonely and white canvas.
Vick explains that art as a therapy helps people to recognize themselves and their significance and/or contribution to the piece of work being done by them. Art being a total act of self expression helps one explore his or her mental state of mind through the use of colors and with the gentle strokes of the paint brushes thereby giving the nerves a sense of calm and control over their pain or suffering.
Art Frees
Experts further opine that the art therapy is all about bringing the various body parts in absolute unison with the other with the heads, eyes, hands all moving towards one aim, that of relief. Therefore, artistic expression gives people a sense of being freed and illuminated. Art or painting to migraine sufferers is thereby a productive feeling that frees them from the clutches of headaches and vomiting bouts.
It was also brought to light that psychological stress played a major role in migraines. Evidence collected also revealed that reduced stress can help treating a migraine.
To confirm the connection between art and migraine, Vicks conducted a survey through the contest on about 150 entrants. A whopping 40% were ready to participate which itself is a revelation of how desperate the migraine sufferers were to get rid of their headaches through any and every means.
“Making” art as the therapy is much called seemed to have relived most of the participants who said that painting was much like a “miracle” that healed them from their unbearable headaches.
Though some migraine sufferers felt that their headaches were aggravated with the smell of paint, with the pressure of time limit and due to insufficient light, the survey was much of a success story for Vick.
The art therapy has been tried on cancer patients who are inflicted with chronic pain but not as yet with migraines. However, this could be a step in realizing that the art therapy helps migraine sufferers too. Ask the migraine sufferers themselves and you’ll know what artistic expression means to them.
For instance, the runner-up of the contest, Thomas C. Lolan, a photographer from Cincinnati claims that he is in optimum control when he does his work and that is when he holds the camera in his hands.
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