Self Massage for Tension Headaches

These days with so many people spending 8+ hours a day at a desk staring at a computer, it's no wonder we never seem to be more than an arm's length from some form of pain reliever. Instead of treating only the symptoms, it would be worthwhile to address and treat the muscles involved with the tension of your everyday work routine. First, let's take a look at what is anatomically happening in the neck.

The muscles that you see at the base of the skull are known as the "suboccipitals". The suboccipitals  work overtime everyday to keep your head balanced on top of your spine-which is no easy task with some of our heads weighing up to 10 pounds! Unless you are constantly checking in with your body mechanics and correcting poor posture throughout the day, chances are you spend the majority of your day with your neck out of proper alignment. This can certainly contribute to the notorious tension headache.

If you can just take a couple minutes throughout the day to stretch out and do some self massage, your headache and neck tension can be treated and (hopefully) relieved. One easy stretch you can do at your desk is neck mobilization. You can start by stretching your neck in half circles and then eventually working into full circles stopping along any "sweet spots" along the way. When you find a sweet spot, I like to take my hand and gently pull my head into a deeper stretch and holding for a few seconds.

Eye strain from staring at a computer screen can also aid in the tension headache. Applying some gentle trigger point massage around the eye sockets can help relieve the strain. Begin by pressing the area at the corner of your eyes underneath the eyebrow, holding, then continuing along the brow bone to the outer corner of the eyes, and then along the bottom of the eye socket back to the inner corner. After the massage, take your eyes through their range of motion (without moving your head) looking up as far as you can, circling to the right, looking down as far as you can, then to the left and back up again. Repeat in the opposite direction.

This is probably my favorite self massage discovery: the rolling pin! It can be used to massage your calves, quads, and hamstrings but I absolutely LOVE the neck and shoulder massage it gives. If you're too shy to bring one to work with you, wait until you're home on the couch watching television. Grip the pin with both hands and just roll up and down one side of your neck and then the other. Stop at any trigger points you feel and make micro movements.

If you have good flexibility in your pectorals you can even self massage the tops of your shoulders. (If this doesn't work for your body, have someone else do it for you!) Anchor the bottom of the rolling pin with your bottom hand and make small movement with the top of of the rolling pin with the other hand, again stopping on the trigger points.

(Fun tip: try the rolling pin massage on your dog. Mine can't get enough!)

I know it is difficult to stop and think about stretching but if you get in the habit of doing a little bit throughout the day everyday, you WILL feel a difference in your body.