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It has been found that 85% of patients who suffer
from migraines also routinely display cool hands (25°C to 30°C).
Additionally, there is a significant correlation of increases in finger
temperature and reduction in migraine headaches.
Another specific and important application is
the treatment of Raynaud's Syndrome.
Several scientific observations have shown
that emotional disturbances are
accompanied by a drop in finger temperature. This result is
understandable because the sympathetic nervous system constricts the
peripheral blood vessels.
On the contrary, vasodilation is correlated
with increased emotional confidence and general relaxation. The
temperature changes are correlated with the degree of emotional stress,
whether this stress was conscious or below conscious awareness.
Mittelmann and Wolff (1943) defined emotional stress as anxiety, anger,
embarrassment, humiliation, joy with anxiety, depression with
hostility, guilt and fear of abandonment. They found that when
subjects experienced or verbalized any of the above conflicts and
stress, their finger temperatures would drop.
Moreover, there is a correlation between the degree of the drop in
finger temperature and the intensity of the subject's anxiety.
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Sargent, Green, and Walters (1972) treated subjects with
migraine headaches, using finger temperature biofeedback to assist
the patients in gaining control of their vascular migraine headaches by
warming their hands.
Temperature
biofeedback, therefore, can be useful for confirming and demonstrating
deep relaxation. Conversely, when the subject stops the relaxation
process, the hand temperature begins to decrease and become cooler.
Normality range: when the
temperature of hands and fingers is measured, a value of
34-36°C is very good and indicates relaxation. A value of 30-33 °C
indicates slight stress, which increases as temperature drops. A value
below 26°C could indicate problems of blood circulation in the fingers
(Raynaud's Syndrome) which can have an organic or a psychological
origin. Temperature measuring is affected by room temperature, so that
the quoted values should be taken as reference only for the standard
room temperature of 25°C.
Heart Rhythm Meditation not only produces relaxation, which
opens the peripheral blood vessels, it uses the conscious awareness of pulse
as feedback in increasing circulation.
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