Blog #18: The Wim Hof Method and migraine
Ice bath number 3. It’s cold.
Forever committed to trying new ways to minimise my migraine attacks, this year I’ve embraced the Wim Hof Method. And yes, it includes ice baths.
Living with migraine for too many years to count, I’ve ticked many treatments off my list (check out this blog, and this blog if you want to know more). But I remain forever optimistic that I won’t always be affected by migraine attacks at the frequency they’re impacting me now.
I’ve vaguely known about Wim Hof and the Wim Hof Method for a few years, but if you’d asked me about him before this year, I would have given a fairly unsubstantial answer that he’s a crazy Dutchman who does crazy shit in the snow while wearing only a t-shirt. Insightful.
But last year, it was like the Universe was telling me I needed to find out more about the Wim Hof Method. You know how sometimes when you look back on where you are in life, and it’s like there were little signs that led you down one particular path? It’s like that with me and the Iceman.
I listen to lots of podcasts, and a couple of years ago a good friend introduced me to Dr Rangan Chatterjee’s podcast, Live More Feel Better. Rangan is a UK doctor with a holistic approach to health (find out more about him on his website).
In September 2020, Rangan interviewed James Nestor, author of the book Breath. My husband Nick and I listened to this podcast together and we both found it fascinating. Nick has been more open-minded about mindfulness and meditation longer than I have (hey, everyone is following their own course in life!), but the podcast helped consolidate some of the information we’ve both learnt over the past year about the importance of proper breathing.
I bought James’ book – as did my Mum, who also has migraine – and read it within a few days. A few weeks later, Rangan released a podcast with an interview with Wim Hof, and I couldn’t help but become even more enthusiastic about the power of the breath. Have a listen and you’ll see how infectious Wim’s enthusiasm is.
Also around this time I read this article about Anna Willcox and the impact of chronic migraine on her life, and how she was introduced to the Wim Hof Method.
Okay Universe, you got me. Where do I sign up?
Just before Christmas 2020, I contacted Nigel Beach at Element Health. Nigel is a physiotherapist, but also a certified Wim Hof Method instructor, based in Tauranga, and is who Anna Willcox worked with. And in a great New Zealand tale of 2-degrees of separation, Nigel’s parents are the godparents of a good friend who I’ve known since I was age 6 and is friends with another couple Nick and I are friends with. Totally irrelevant but fun facts anyway.
Because I understand my own migraine disease and have tried many treatments, I wanted to chat through Nigel’s approach on the phone before I made an appointment to see him. We had a great conversation and I felt confident Nigel knew what he was talking about. And even if I was unsure, I think the Universe was still screaming at me to give the Wim Hof Method a go. A few weeks prior to phoning Nigel, I’d book a family trip to Mount Maunganui (very close to Tauranga) to do an overnight hike in January. On the dates we were in Mount Maunganui, Nigel had an appointment available. I booked that appointment.
Because Nigel is also a physiotherapist and I have a couple of discs that need some love (I know, I’m falling apart), before he started me on some breathing exercises he asked me to do a few weeks of exercises to improve, in his words, my issue with moving backwards to go forwards. In my words, I stick my bum out to bend forward when I should be bending from the waist and it puts too much pressure on my lower back.
After a few weeks of back exercises, I graduated to learning some breathing exercises. I had checked out the Wim Hof Method breathing exercises available on YouTube and downloaded the Wim Hof Method app, but Nigel recommended I start with a few different breathing exercises than the ‘beginner’ Wim Hof Method exercises.
I’m still learning about the Wim Hof Method, so if you want a better explanation that what I can offer at this stage, check out the Wim Hof Method website. But this is what I understand about how the Wim Hof Method will help me.
The Wim Hof Method is based on 3 pillars – breathing, cold immersion and commitment.
The Breathing
The Wim Hof Method breathing exercises help to regulate my autonomic nervous system. Because I’ve been living with chronic pain for years, thanks to my migraine disease and crappy discs, my sympathetic nervous system, the one responsible for the fight or flight response, is pretty much cranked up to high alert all the time.
Even though I don’t think my life is super stressful, it’s busy. We’re all dealing with so much modern-day madness that we’re always on high alert and it doesn’t take much for us to become stressed (shitty) over the smallest thing (aka why the heck can’t anyone in my family pick up anything off the floor except me!!!).
The breathing exercises also help to build up my tolerance to carbon dioxide, which in turn can help my body use oxygen more efficiently.
The Cold immersion
Think ice baths, cold showers and cold lake or ocean swimming, Like breathing, cold immersion helps to regulate the autonomic nervous system and helps, among other things, with inflammation. It puts your body into a controlled, stressed state, kind of like telling your body “hey, this is what real stress feels like, so quit stressing the small stuff” and helps to reset your stress radar.
The Commitment
Basically, you can’t just do this shit haphazardly. You’ve got to commit to it ongoing to get the rewards.
Nigel and I had discussed another trip to see him in Mount Maunganui to do my first ice bath. But during a Zoom consultation at the start of March, Nigel told me he was running a workshop in Auckland in a couple of weeks, which included an ice bath. I signed up.
The Wim Hof Method workshop
Nick and I attended Nigel’s Auckland workshop on Sunday 21 March. It was a 4-hour workshop held at Les Mills Auckland City. About 60 people attended and was a pretty relaxed day.
Nigel talked about the evidence behind the Wim Hof Method during the first half of the workshop. And before you ask, there IS scientific evidence, as I found out a few weeks before when I read Wim Hof’s book. I think this is important to point out, as 1 of the 3 pillars of the Wim Hof Method is commitment. For me, having a basic understanding of the science helps me to commit to something.
Nigel then ran us through some Wim Hof Method breathing exercises, like this one. I had tried these before at home, but doing them in a group situation was great.
We did 5 rounds of what are basically hyper-ventilation exercises. Nigel talked to us about what we might experience – tingling in our fingers, toes and lips, a change in temperature (cold for women, either hot or cold for men), trembling and shaking.
During the first and second rounds of breathing, my arms and legs started to tingle. During the third round, my arms started shaking and I became quite cold. During the fourth round, something weird happened. Nigel reminded us to relax, which I did after realising I wasn’t relaxing, and I suddenly became warm, my body stopped shaking, and I know how this might sound, but my mind felt at peace. I felt like I was zoning out a bit and Nigel’s words faded into the background. This wasn’t for long, about 20-30 seconds, and then the shaking and cold returned during the fifth round of breathing. It sounds crazy right. Just this from breathing? Sounds like I drank the cool-aid?
But when we finished and got into groups to talk about what we felt, we all had similar experiences. Nick said he couldn’t help smiling and enjoyed his body heating up, and others said they too felt like they were zoning out. I’ve never been great at meditation, but I wonder if this is the feeling people who regularly meditate feel?
Then it was ice bath time! I’d been prepping myself for the ice bath by finishing my showers all week with a minute or so of cold water. I’m definitely a sun lover, and slippers and my heat pump in the winter and I didn’t think my body was designed for the cold. But apparently, we’re all doing our bodies a disservice by staying warm all the time. The human body is supposed to experience the cold, and it’s what real stress is for our body, not the modern-day stress we all live with.
Nick and I were one of the last to get into an ice bath, and as everyone succeeded in staying in, I knew I could do it as well. When it was our turn I went straight in, up to my neck, breathed through my nose as instructed and endured the cold for 2 minutes. When our 2 minutes were up, even though it was hurting, I was actually prepared to stay in for longer (I say from the current comfort of my warm lounge).
And then it was done. My first ice bath ticked off the list. And it wasn’t so bad.
Nigel recommended to me a few weeks ago that after the first ice bath at the workshop I do 5 days of 5 minute ice baths, followed by 1 a week for 3 weeks, then repeat for another month. This will be enough time to know if the Wim Hof Method is helping my migraine attacks. A few weeks ago I bought a rainwater collection kit to use as an ice bath.
As I hit publish on this blog post, Nick and I have completed 2 mornings of the Wim Hof Method breathing exercises and 2 ice baths at home, 5 minutes each. Our 2 boys have also jumped in, albeit for only a few seconds. The first 20 seconds or so are uncomfortable, but after that, you do kind of get used to it.
Of course, it’s too early to know if the Wim Hof Method has had any effect on my migraine beast. But I intend to stick with the daily breathing exercises and ice baths to find out.
I’ll keep you updated on my progress. And I’d love to hear from you if you’ve tried the Wim Hof Method, other breathing exercises or other holistic approaches to migraine management.
Leave a comment or feel free to email me sarah@sayline.co.nz, join the conversation on Facebook or join the Migraine Down Under community in our private Facebook group.
Son # 1 enduring a (short) ice bath, while being told to smile
Son #2 clearly enjoying it more than his brother