Hello everyone does anyone else find cuddles help migraine?
There’s actually some interesting science behind why cuddles might feel helpful for things like migraine, although this might take your thread more clinical than you'd like...
Oxytocin and bonding: Gentle, safe touch can increase oxytocin, a hormone involved in social bonding and feelings of calm. Oxytocin is also associated with reduced stress responses and may influence pain perception.
Parasympathetic nervous system activation: A safe cuddle can shift the body away from a sympathetic “fight or flight” state towards parasympathetic “rest and digest.” This can reduce muscle tension, slow breathing, and create a sense of safety (all of which may be helpful when stress or tension contributes to symptoms).
Cortisol reduction: Positive social touch has been linked in research to lower stress hormones such as cortisol. Since stress is a common migraine trigger for many people, anything that supports regulation may indirectly help.
Pain modulation (“gate control” theory): Touch and pressure signals travel through the nervous system and can influence how pain signals are processed. This is part of why things like massage, holding an injured area, warmth, or comforting touch can sometimes change the experience of pain.
Heart rate and breathing synchronisation: Calm, connected touch can help regulate breathing and heart rate. Some research on affectionate touch and co-regulation suggests that human connection can help the nervous system settle.
I think one of the beautiful things about understanding the “behind the scenes” of what’s happening in our bodies is that it can help us feel more connected to ourselves. Recognising that those moments of calm, comfort and connection aren’t just “in our heads”; there are real biological processes happening.
The ancient human wisdom of ‘come here, you need a cuddle’ has some pretty clever biology backing it up...
Cuddling can go either way with my migraines - sometimes it feels like it helps some, and sometimes it makes me feel worse. I've had chronic migraines since I was a teen, and they run the gamut of types and symptoms, so my treatments and reliefs likewise vary.
If I've already taken a relief medication and am out of the acute pain phase, cuddling can be really soothing, especially with head, face, and neck massage. However, if I'm in acute pain still, touch is overstimulating. Even the thought of another person's body heat, scent, voice, and touch while in active migraine makes my skin crawl and nausea worse. All I want before the meds kick in is to nap in a cool, dark room with a pillow over my head.
I assume it would depend on the source of the migraine. If it is from stress, cuddling could work, as it’s a stress reliever for some.
Mine typically come from dehydration. For instance, if I get in a hard workout late at night, I can almost bet that I’m going to have a migraine the next day, because night workouts don’t give me time to replenish what I’ve lost.
In that case, only coconut water, electrolytes, tons of salt, and a caffeine shot (for the vasoconstriction) is the only remedy.
But, I would think that cuddling could become such a staple in a person’s life, that NOT cuddling could trigger migraines… like a withdrawal symptom. But, that would probably take years of non stop cuddling.