Headaches and massage

I have had a few clients coming to my practice suffering from frequent headaches. Although some of the causes of headaches come from outside my scope of practice, often, they are treatable with bodywork and good posture.

What do you do most during the day? Driving? Working on a computer? Most of us would say yes, and as we get fatigued, our posture becomes less than adequate. We slump our back, cross our legs, move our head forward, ect… A bad posture, over time, has a tremendous impact on our muscles and I discovered that with most of my clients suffering from headaches, posture is the main cause of their symptoms.

There are different types of headaches and here are the two most common ones:

Migraines: Migraines occur when the blood vessels in the brain become dilated. They often start with visual disturbances accompanied by nausea, vomiting, dizziness, and sensitivity to light. In many cases, a throbbing pain is felt on one side of the head.

Tension Headaches: The most common type of headaches. Exaggerated by stress, tension headaches are often related to poor posture, jaw problems, sleep deprivation and eyestrain just to name a few. They typically start at the base of the skull and then move over the ears and behind the eyes.

What can massage therapy do?
Regular massage, good posture, and stress management can help prevent or greatly reduce the frequency of headaches.
In my practice, I use a variety of techniques from Swedish and deep tissue massage to myofascial release. Since tension headaches are the result of increased stress and tension, massage is really effective with its relaxation and muscle tension relief effects.

By addressing the cause of the problem instead of the symptoms, regular bodywork sessions along with proper posture can greatly reduce headaches and therefore the need for medication.

You should’nt have to live with constant headaches.

"In the last year, I began experiencing migraines with auras 2 to 3 times a week. I was frustrated with using medication to address symptoms, when I believed the cause was muscle tension in my neck and shoulders and subsequent misalignment of my vertebrae. After a few weeks of receiving targeted massage treatments with Myriam, my migraine issues subsided. Who wouldn't prefer weekly massages to weekly migraines? What a serious relief. Thank you, Myriam!"