Some headaches are not just annoying, some headaches are totally incapacitating. It's not uncommon to wake up with a headache. With this kind of headache, it hurts to even lift your head from the pillow. Your eyes may be extremely sensitive to sunlight or motion. What if there was a natural way to relieve and even prevent at least some headaches ?
There is a natural approach to healing. Massage therapy, the gift of touch, focuses on relieving the pain, tension, and the discomfort of a headache before your body imbalances cause additional damage. Massage therapy can effectively relieve the symptoms of two of the three major types of headaches: tension and cluster headaches. While massage is contraindicated for a migraine in full bloom, prevention is an attractive, healthier solution to a headache pain that is especially intense, lasting from mere hours to excruciating days.
A major key to preventing migraines is to physically avoid all of those things that you know from experience or testing causes yours: food allergies (chocolate, diary products, etc), food additives like MSG or nitrates, caffeine withdrawal, hypoglycemia when the body is deprived of glucose,or even estrogen supplements. Other causes like weather or barometric pressure, genetics, or unknown factors require coping mechanisms like a doctor's prescription or massage in order to deal effectively with the mood changes, or the extreme sensitivity to light, sound or even motion. For some sufferers, migraines produce nausea and even vomiting.
Most massage therapists offer relief for migraines in the form of hydrotherapy, ie., a cold compress to the back of the neck on constricted blood vessels, as well as a cold compress applied over the forehead and eyes. Your therapist may wrap your hands or feet in steamy hot towels while applying the cold compresses to the back of the neck. If any touch can be tolerated, gentle massage of the back of the scalp as well as the shoulders, and back of the neck, can bring relief. Your massage therapist may include passive neck stretching exercises or shoulder compressions in the treatment of your headaches.
Massage therapists are most often consulted for relief of tension headaches. This headache may be by far the most common. Tension headaches occur when surface blood capillaries constrict, blood to muscles and the brain increases, and adrenalin levels increase, causing spasms in the head, neck, and upper shoulders. Tension headaches can occur as result of occupational posture (prolonged driving without lumbar support, or prolonged hours sitting hunched over a computer or even the mental stress of dealing with conflicting deadlines), excessive fatigue, excessive alcohol use, and prolonged or severe emotional pressures.
Sometimes, the area that aches is not the area that the massage therapist will choose to work. A massage therapist may offer any number of modalities to bring relief. For example, a therapist skilled in reflexology or acupressure may work the hand area between the thumb and forefinger, or gently apply pressure to points on the client's ankles and feet to bring balance into the body. The bottom line is to use massage as a preventive tool to stay in good health, rather than seek a magic cure once your health is in jeopardy!
Finally, the third type of headache is a cluster headache. While the cause of cluster headaches is unknown, it has been suggested that they are more common among men ages 20-45 years of age. Cluster headaches are felt in the eyes, temple, neck and face. Again, hydrotherapy, and gentle massage of the problem areas, in addition to the neck and shoulders, can usually effectively reduce the symptoms. Consider that a regularly scheduled massage is an effective preventive measure, and infinitely more cost-effective than a lost work day, or a long-term illness.
Don't expect one massage to cure your headaches forever. If you suffer repetitively from headaches, the best solution would be to determine what causes them. To cure the problem, eliminate its source. If you constantly suffer headaches of an unknown cause, especially headaches that include neck stiffness, you should consult your physician before making an appointment for a massage as these headaches may be a symptom of a more serious medical problem.
Mary Giammalvo is a licensed massage therapist who trained at Lauterstein-Conway School of Massage in Austin, Texas. Mary's private practice, Life Balance Massage, is based in Round Rock, Texas, where she provides personalized massage in a professional environment, with each session designed to cater to your particular needs that day. She is also licensed by N.C.B.M.T.
An advocate of life-long learning, Mary earned her B.S. in Secondary Education at Pennsylvania State University, and her M.S. in Applied Behavioral Sciences at Johns Hopkins University. She worked at the William F. Bolger Management Academy in Potomac, Md, for thirteen years, doing curriculum development and teaching management seminars in stress & time management, leadership development, team building, and effective communications. She has traveled extensively throughout the United States, including Chicago, New York, Atlanta, Dallas, Memphis, and Philadelphia, to train managers.
Explore [http://www.lifebalancemassage.org] for personalized details.
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