What Can Be Done To Relieve Headaches?

May 30, 2018

Headaches

Let’s talk about headaches…

Ranging from a mid-afternoon head-pounding ache to an agonizing pain that leaves you sensitive to light and sometimes feeling sick, headaches are something that most, if not all of us, have suffered from at some point in our life.

But for some, headaches are a much bigger problem and can even affect our everyday life…

Believe it or not, I’ve had a lot of patients believe that the foods they had been eating, things such as chocolate and cheese, were the cause of the problem and completely removed them from their diet!

And they quickly learned that this had no effect on their daily migraines.  While some migraine headaches can be triggered by foods, hydration, stress, and poor sleeping habits.  The high majority do not.

And I can imagine you would have found it hard to believe me if I told you that 87% of headaches come from tight and tense muscles in your shoulders and your neck. You’re not alone and what most people don’t realize is that it’s often nothing to do with the foods we eat at all…

…But instead, the culprit is often tension that you never even knew existed in your neck in the first place.

This is either because you’re just so used to it, or you just brush it to the side thinking a “stiff neck” just comes as part of the package of getting older.

Do you ever find yourself resting your head in an awkward position while watching the tv? Do you ever lean your head forward when you’re reading before bed? Or even stick your neck forward when using your phone or computer?

I bet you answered ‘yes’ to at least one of these questions.

All of these things cause the muscles in your neck to become tired, which means one thing- lots of tension!

So what can be done to relieve headaches?

Now if your job requires working on a computer, it might seem impossible to suddenly stop looking at one. And I’m not telling you to stop reading or to never watch TV again. But what I am going to do is tell you

Three things that can be done to help ease neck tension that leads to all sorts of headaches…

  • 1. Be aware of the position that your neck is in. If you notice that your neck is pushed forwards, tuck your chin in towards your neck to help straighten it and put it back into the right position.
  • 2. Relax in a warm bath. Muscles love to be warm and warm muscles mean less tension. So, run yourself a nice warm bath and lay back and relax!
  • 3. Talk to our team about a unique plan of care that we’ve designed especially for migraine and headache sufferers.

So if you’re sick and tired of headaches stopping you in your tracks for days, feel free to give me a call! I would be happy to tell you more about it- (623) 486-3333

And in the meantime, if you’d like more tips on ways to ease neck pain and tension, click below to read a FREE tips report that I put together for you:

Nick Hunter, PT, DPT
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