Effect of Breathing Techniques on Migraine Attacks and Severity

Background: Migraine is a very common neurobiological disorder caused by increased excitability of the Central Nervous System. It is among the causes of the highest morbidity worldwide. Migraine has considerable economic and social impact ; affects the quality of life of patients and disrupts work life, social activities and family life. To decrease the frequency and severity of migraine attacks may be the first goal than treating the attacks. The study was designed as a Parallel Group, Add on, Randomized Controlled Experiment in order to observe the effects of breathing techniques on migraine-like headaches, frequency and severity. Methods: Participants will be divided into 2 parallel arms, intervention and control (treatment as usual). Cluster randomization will be performed to prevent intergroup contamination. Breathing techniques will be taught to the intervention group by the researcher. Both groups will continue to use pharmacotherapy for migraine. Both groups will be evaluated with migraine disability level (MIDAS) at the beginning and end of the study. The primary output of the study is to evaluate the effect of breathing techniques on the frequency and severity of attacks in migraine-like headaches. The secondary output is to evaluate the effect of breathing techniques on the MIDAS level. Discussion: The results of the study will provide information about the effect of breathing techniques on migraine-like headaches. The results of this study will contribute to the literature, since migraine is among the chronic diseases and pharmacotherapy options are limited.