For anyone who struggles with regular headaches, massage can be one of the most useful tools to help reduce their impact on your day-to-day life. While massage is known for reducing stress and decreasing tension in stiff muscles, it offers so many other great benefits to individuals today. Here we’re going to take a look at how massage works to alleviate headaches and why this is a treatment we recommend to anyone who finds headaches get in the way of their daily activities.
While almost all of us have had headaches in our lives, for anyone who experiences these on a regular basis, you know how disrupting they can be for your work and personal life. Massage is a great alternative treatment to help deal with this pain, and many individuals opt to use this today instead of relying on medication. Many headaches come with neck pain, which is something that massage can work to reduce. Both migraine headaches and tension headaches result in neck pain, and you’ll find that massage can help to improve blood flow to this area and relax tight muscles around your neck.
Tension Headaches and Migraines
One of the most common types of headaches experienced by individuals is a muscle tension headache, which usually results in an achy neck and constant pain on either side of the head. These can last for just a few hours, but in the worst cases, the pain remains for multiple days. Vascular headaches are associated with throbbing pain, and these occur when the blood vessels swell and constrict. These often get worse with movement or exercise and may make it difficult to see. Migraines and cluster headaches are examples of these types of headaches, which often result from high blood pressure.
Massage can work to reduce the pain associated with either of these headache types. During a massage, your therapist will work to reduce muscle tension, release short muscles, and assist with muscle spasms. If you are visiting a massage therapist purely for headache relief, they’ll work to relieve the tension in your neck, head, and shoulders. As your blood circulation improves during the treatment, it works to relieve the pain you are feeling.
Stress and Anxiety Headaches
Many people today experience headaches as a side effect of anxiety or stress. Massage therapy is an effective way to deal with these issues and can help you to feel more balanced. When used as a regular treatment, it can help to reduce the chance of headaches returning so frequently and improve your overall quality of life.
Massage Techniques for Headaches
During a massage, your therapist will work with you to alleviate pain through the use of touch and various techniques to reduce tension in your muscles. Massage for headaches will focus on the neck, back, shoulders, and cervical spine, all of which can work to reduce the pain you are experiencing. There are certain pressure points within the body that are associated with relieving pain in the head, and these will be targeted during your treatment.
Your massage therapist will work with you to understand the cause of your headaches and to identify any areas of tension in your body. From there, they can decide which massage technique will be most suited to your needs before your treatment. You will likely want to consider returning for regular treatments in order to see the best results from the massage. After a while, you may find that your headaches begin to return less frequently, and you’ll find that you are able to go about your daily life with more ease.
Massage can help with a whole host of concerns, and here at A Mindful Root, we are used to working with clients with a wide range of symptoms. For more information about how massage can help to alleviate headaches, don’t hesitate to contact our team today, who will be happy to discuss your requirements.
Contact us today at 304-704-9476 to schedule your appointment.
