migraines and corsets

[dame_wilbur]

I've had terrible posture all my life. My docs have nagged, my mom has nagged, I did my best, but it HURT to sit/stand up straight. It made my migraines actively worse. So I've continued to slouch. Then a week ago I was at the Renaissance Festival, and bought an authentic overbust corset for fun. I did terrificly for the rest of the day, which pleased me.

A couple days later, I laced up my corset again to take some pictures of it to share with my friends, and the oddest thing happened: my migraine decreased in intensity. Weird, no? I took the pictures, and then took off the corset, and my pain went back up. Wha? So I put it on again and my pain went down again. Several tries later, I decided to try wearing my corset for a day. My pain was really at a good level and my posture was incredibly awesome from the boning in the corset.

The corset gives me a mild wasp figure as I don't lace it completely closed. However, I find myself breathing with the UPPER part of my lungs more than the lower parts like I usually do. (According to one of my docs it's important to breathe from the upper lungs down.) This is now day 3 of me wearing my corset, and I'm feeling SO MUCH BETTER. My pain reached a 5/10 yesterday, which is the lowest it's been in years.

I've shown my chiropractor my corset, and explained how it's helping and he's at a total loss as to why it's working like this. My acupuncturist said it might have something to do with blood flow, but I don't really know. Then today, I tried sitting up straight without my corset on, and my migraine increased. So it's something about the corset itself that's helping.

Any ideas why this is  working?

[Dr Santos]

Hi,
How are you?  According to literature, combination of good posture and deep breathing exercises not only provides immediate stress and headache relief, but when performed consistently, it can prevent headaches as well. It is said that poor posture can result in muscle tension within the shoulder and neck joints and muscles and exacerbate headache pain. By focusing on breathing you can better oxygenate your body, ease any tension and help any headache pain present. Continue wearing your corset for headache relief.I also recommend that you check with a physical therapist who can help you identify and correct any postural problems. Take care and do keep us posted.

[FurballsMom]

Not sure, but it might be that it relieves the amount of effort it takes to hold good enough posture?