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Behavioral Management of Episodic Migraine: Maintaining a Healthy Consistent Lifestyle

  • Hot Topics in Pain and Headache (N Rosen, Section Editor)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose of Review

To describe the most recent findings related to lifestyle behaviors and migraine.

Recent Findings

An individualized conceptualization of how lifestyle factors impact migraine activity has increased our understanding of the role of behavioral interventions for episodic migraine. Healthy diets of several types have been associated with migraine attack reduction, whereas disruptions in diet like skipping meals are associated with migraine attack onset. Both aerobic activity and lower intensity yoga interventions show promise for migraine prevention. Sleep disruption has been associated with migraine day and may have a bi-directional relationship. Both increases and decreases in stress have been associated with migraine activity.

Summary

Evidence is converging around the principle that highly unusual disruptions in daily routine are particularly associated with migraine attack onset and that a consistent healthy lifestyle is a key feature of effective behavioral migraine prevention strategies.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, Yeshiva University, 1165 Morris Park Ave, Bronx, NY, 10461, USA

    Elizabeth K. Seng, Ivy Gosnell, Leah Sutton & Amy S. Grinberg

  2. Saul R. Korey Department of Psychology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, NY, USA

    Elizabeth K. Seng

  3. Montefiore Medical Center, Montefiore Headache Center, New York, USA

    Elizabeth K. Seng

  4. VA Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven, USA

    Amy S. Grinberg

Authors
  1. Elizabeth K. Seng
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  2. Ivy Gosnell
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  3. Leah Sutton
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  4. Amy S. Grinberg
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Elizabeth K. Seng.

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Conflict of Interest

Elizabeth Seng has consulted for GlaxoSmithKline and Click Therapeutics and received research funding from the NINDS (NS096107 PI: Seng), NCCIH (U01AT011005-01A1 MPIs: Seng and Shallcross), and the Veteran’s Health Administration (the Headache Center of Excellence Research and Evaluation Center and VA HSR&D, IRP 20–002 PI: Damush). Ms. Gosnell declares she has no conflicts of interest. Ms. Sutton declares that she has no conflicts of interest. Dr. Grinberg declares she has no conflicts of interest.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

All reported studies/experiments with human or animal subjects performed by the authors have been previously published and complied with all applicable ethical standards (including the Helsinki declaration and its amendments, institutional/national research committee standards, and international/national/institutional guidelines).

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Seng, E.K., Gosnell, I., Sutton, L. et al. Behavioral Management of Episodic Migraine: Maintaining a Healthy Consistent Lifestyle. Curr Pain Headache Rep 26, 247–252 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11916-022-01023-z

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