This episode focuses on the topic: ‘Headaches and Migraines’ – featuring an interview with the doctor and neurophysiologist Priv.-Doz. Dr. med. habil. Rüdiger Schellenberg.

‘There is a psychologist in Germany who once coined the phrase: “A migraine sufferer has something like a Porsche in their brain.”’

Dr Schellenberg describes the complex field of migraines and headaches using simple and easy-to-understand models, and explains the therapeutic approach involving microcurrent and LED light therapy for patients.

As a long-standing practitioner, Dr Schellenberg draws on a wealth of experience in the use of microcurrent therapy

Information about Dr Schellenberg: https://www.schellenberg-med.de/

00:00:00
Dr Schellenberg: There is a psychologist in Germany who once coined the phrase: ‘A migraine sufferer has something like a Porsche in their brain.’ But with the use of these electrophysiological forms of therapy, such as microcurrent, we now have an option. It seems that the light emitted by these systems or programmes helps to stabilise the elasticity of the blood vessels so that, when the nervous system signals: ‘Blood vessel, dilate – a new migraine attack is about to start!’, the blood vessels remain more stable.

00:00:40
Patrick Walitschek: Welcome to a new episode from LuXXaMed GmbH. My name is Patrick Walitschek and, as previously announced, this episode focuses on the topic of headaches and migraines. Dr Schellenberg talks about his experience with treating migraine sufferers and also about the background to stress-related migraines in particular. In the last episode, we already conducted an interview with Dr Schellenberg on the subject of neuropathy. I can’t recommend it highly enough – do just skip back to that episode. Here, too, Dr Schellenberg not only describes the practical application of LuXXaMed microcurrent therapy but, of course, also explains the medical and scientific background to it. But I don’t want to keep you in suspense any longer. I’ll take you straight to the interview, and we’ll catch up again briefly at the end.

00:01:42
Patrick Walitschek: That’s a brilliant approach. That also brings me round to another… Let’s move away from neuropathy and neuropathic pain for a moment. The issue of headaches and migraines – at least in my world at the moment – is something I’m hearing a lot about, not so much from, shall we say, the user side, but also in my private life. I imagine this might also be linked to current global political events. Somehow, this aspect – particularly stress-related migraines – seems to be on the rise for me, at least, especially at the moment. What’s your general experience with migraines in general? I know you deal with them a lot, including through biofeedback sessions with patients. Perhaps you could explain to our viewers, in broad terms, what stress-induced migraine actually entails? For those who don’t suffer from migraines – thank goodness. And what therapeutic approaches are available, including microcurrent therapy?

00:02:44
Dr Schellenberg: We now know a great deal about this typical headache that affects migraine sufferers. A migraine is a specific type of headache, and – thanks to basic research – we now know that migraine is a genetically determined headache disorder. As a result, we have to admit: ‘Migraine, in this form, is incurable.’ However, by applying a wide variety of methods, it is possible to create conditions in which the symptoms are no longer even noticed. Perhaps they no longer occur at all, and these patients say of their own accord: ‘I’m fine. I hardly have anything to do with the headache or the migraine problem anymore.’ And what lies behind this? As you said, there are more and more patients who, due to anxiety and a stressful daily life, say of their own accord that these were once again triggers for migraine attacks they are currently experiencing. That is true, but it is only part of the truth. Migraines will occur regardless of whether there is stress or not.

00:03:55
Dr Schellenberg: Stress can be a trigger that repeatedly sets off this mechanism leading to a migraine. What happens? Put simply, the following takes place in the brain of a migraine sufferer. There are migraine generators in the brainstem. These are populations of cells, or groups of cells, in which there is a constant increase in serotonin metabolism, ensuring that the migraine sufferer’s nervous system is constantly operating at an elevated level. One might sometimes say: “People with migraines are actually those who have an overactive or particularly active brain, which is no longer really able to relax, can no longer find peace.” There is a psychologist in Germany who once coined the phrase: ‘A migraine sufferer has something like a Porsche in their brain.’ It constantly wants to be at full throttle, constantly wants to drive at 180. To get everything done at 180 in everyday life. They’re very good at multitasking. If you ask them: ‘Could you do this and that for me?’

00:05:08
Dr Schellenberg: They’ll never say no, because they know they can do several things at once; their nervous system is constantly operating at a high level and, as a result, they’re always capable of delivering peak performance. Migraine sufferers, as they say, have this character trait of wanting to give 150 per cent to everything and being unable to say no. In this way, they’re constantly able to get a great deal done at once, thanks to their highly active nervous system. However, when this genetic component—which is now recognised in migraine sufferers—is present, it causes this hyperactive nervous system to say: ‘I need a break now, just to allow my central nervous system to recover.’ And this rest period, during which the nervous system itself shifts down from sixth gear to second, is the migraine attack. It is during this phase that all the symptoms familiar to migraine sufferers arise – from the one-sided throbbing headache right through to nausea and vomiting. These are the symptoms that make life with migraine so difficult for the patient.

00:06:24
Dr Schellenberg: From a neurophysiological point of view, this very unpleasant attack is the recovery phase for this constantly overactive nervous system. Once this recovery phase is over and the nervous system kicks into gear again, the patient is back to normal. The symptoms are gone, everything carries on as normal, knowing full well that at some point the brain will say again: ‘I need my next rest’, in other words, the next migraine attack. ‘What preventative measures could be taken now to ensure that this underlying condition – which is, after all, incurable – occurs as rarely as possible?’ There are two approaches: on the one hand, influencing the mechanisms that lead to pain. These are the techniques you mentioned earlier: ‘I often work with biofeedback.’ However, with the current use of these electrophysiological therapies, such as microcurrent, there’s now also the option of doing the following: giving the brain the chance to simply remain more relaxed. Giving it the chance to, so to speak, shift down a gear in the Porsche – from sixth gear to third.

00:07:42
Dr Schellenberg: Because it might be much nicer to experience everyday life in third gear rather than just being exposed to the stress of daily life. Methods that somehow help you to experience a sense of relaxation would be suitable here. Not just at the motor-muscular level, but also at the central nervous system level. To signal to the patient that they can shift down a gear and that it actually feels good for them. If that succeeds, then the gap between the arousal level – which switches off between second and third gear – and the power level in sixth gear becomes much wider. This means the nervous system would reach the point where a new migraine attack might strike much less frequently. Achieving this with microcurrent therapy is one area where regenerative programmes can actually be utilised. Learning to live in a relaxed state at both a nervous and muscular level, to remain relaxed, and to create inner stability. This allows one to move further and further away from the point where the nervous system says: ‘Now I have to come down from my high-energy state. I need a recovery phase.’

00:09:03
Dr Schellenberg: As a result, these pain-free intervals become longer and longer, and the patient enjoys a higher quality of life because they experience migraines much less frequently. This wonderful microcurrent technique can indeed be helpful here, combined with other methods to learn how to wind down at both the nervous system and muscular system levels. The more often the patient feels – even during a session – that this is doing them good, the more this becomes ingrained. So that, in the end, the patient says: ‘Yes, I feel much more relaxed in my everyday life, much more at ease.’ Perhaps even a little more resilient to stress, enabling them to cope with the things that make it increasingly difficult for us to live a normal everyday life. This includes, once again, all the everyday stimuli conveyed to us daily through the news. Being better able to cope with them means that migraine sufferers will find they experience migraines less frequently. Microcurrent therapy can also be helpful at this level.

00:10:09
Patrick Walitschek: Yes, absolutely fascinating. Perhaps to round things off, let’s look at the practical side. Would you again apply this globally, or perhaps combine it with a local application, for example? And how would you incorporate light therapy, for instance, particularly for migraine sufferers?

00:10:27
Dr Schellenberg: In my experience, it’s more appropriate to use global stimulation or stimulation to provide the patient with a comprehensive regenerative relaxation technique. There are, of course, those whole-body stimulation points again, where the stimulation electrodes might be applied criss-cross across the body – from the right wrist to the left ankle and back again – and along the spine. I sometimes use the light sensors or light sources on the temple, simply securing them there with a rubber band or plastic strip. They’re attached to the temple with adhesive tape. This also has a psychological effect, because that’s where the patient experiences their migraine pain. If, in this way, it is possible to stabilise the blood vessels there through the application of light, one can curb the stimuli or phenomena that acutely trigger the pain.

00:11:30
Dr Schellenberg: We know that blood vessels in the brain dilate and become permeable to certain substances which, when they pass through the vessels, come into contact with the brain’s surface. Put simply, this triggers the pain. It seems that the light applied by these systems or programmes helps to stabilise the elasticity of the blood vessels so that, when the nervous system says, ‘Blood vessel, dilate; a new migraine attack is about to begin,’ the blood vessels remain more stable. As this affects the blood vessels on the surface of the brain, I feel that the light has a good chance of achieving something locally there.

00:12:19
Patrick Walitschek: Brilliant, perfect. And that brings us to the end of this episode. I’d like to thank you very much for your explanation. As always, I found it absolutely fascinating. Above all, I really appreciate the explanatory models you come up with; I find them – at least for me – very clear, easy to follow and logical. Thank you very much indeed. I’m sure we’ll find and record a few more episodes on other interesting topics in the future.

00:12:47
Dr Schellenberg: Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share my current experiences here once again. I hope that these methods will be used much more frequently and that these systems will become even more widely adopted, because they simply have enormous therapeutic effectiveness. There are so many ways in which we can help patients and ensure they’re satisfied – and that’s what we’re actually aiming for.

00:13:12
Patrick Walitschek: Great, thank you very much. See you soon.

00:13:15
Dr Schellenberg: See you soon, Patrick. Thank you.

00:13:17
Patrick Walitschek: And there we are again – we’ve covered a lot of great content, with plenty of practical tips and background knowledge on the topic of headaches and migraines. I hope you enjoyed this episode. Please do leave us a rating, wherever you’re listening to us. And of course, subscribe to us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Deezer, Overcast or wherever you listen to our podcast. You can also find us on social media – on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. Do follow us. Please feel free to leave comments if you have any suggestions for topics or future podcast episodes. Drop us an email. You’ll find all our contact details in the show notes or at www.luxxamed.de. So, I’d like to say: “Thank you very much for tuning in. Thank you very much for listening.” Look forward to the next episodes. And until then, see you next time.