Self Massage for Tension Headaches

Written by Lovelyn on January 31, 2008 – 8:52 pm -

1398265583_37e343243c.jpg

I don’t think I’ve ever had a tension headache. My husband, on the other hand, gets them regularly. Since I’ve taught him about self massage, he’s been able to decrease the severity and frequency of his headaches.

Tightness in the muscles in your shoulders and neck all contribute to tension headaches. First squeeze the large muscle in your shoulder, the upper trapezius, slowly between the thumb and forefingers of the opposite hand. The action of squeezing and releasing should take about six seconds total. As you squeeze you should twist the muscle slightly. When you squeeze this muscle your headache will probably intensify some. Don’t worry, that always happens. The pain should be a good pain. Don’t squeeze the muscle until you’re in agony. The more you do self massage, the better you’ll be able to monitor the cues your body gives you. Squeeze this muscle five to six times on both sides.

Now move to the back of the neck. On either side of you spine you can feel muscle. (Don’t massage over the spine.) Basically you want to do the same thing to the muscles on either side of the spine at the back of the neck that you did to your shoulders. I use the the hand on the same side that I’m working on for this. Squeeze the muscles at the back of your neck five to six times also. Once you’ve finished make some circles along the base of the skull.

There is a muscle that runs from behind your ear to your clavicle. It’s called the sternocleidomastoid or SCM. Loosening this also helps decrease your tension headache. Again just slowly squeeze and release the muscle. Do it down the length of the muscle five to six times.

As soon as you feel a tension headache coming on, increase your water intake and start massaging.

Photo by Geekgirly

[Post to Twitter] Tweet This   [Post to StumbleUpon] Stumble This  

Related Posts


Tags: , ,
Posted in Healthy Living, Self Massage |

5 Comments to “Self Massage for Tension Headaches”

  1. The Art of Balanced Living » The Benefits of Massage Therapy Says:
    July 21st, 2008 at 1:41 pm

    [...] headaches [...]

  2. The Art of Balanced Living » Self Massage to Start Your Day Says:
    November 5th, 2008 at 12:47 pm

    [...] written about self massage to treat various problem like tension headaches and carpal tunnel syndrome before, but self massage can also be used to wake you up in the morning [...]

  3. sunnydays13 Says:
    January 22nd, 2009 at 12:57 am

    There are so many great tips here to follow. I’ve battled stress headaches and tension headaches for a good portion of my life. One thing that REALLY helps me is using an aromatherapy eye pillow. I keep the eye pillow in the freezer so it’s always ready to use. I use one with peppermint leaves, peppermint oils and flax seed.

    The weight of the flax seed works like acupressure on my eyes and temples. It’s almost like getting a massage around my temples and sinus pressure points. The flax seed holds the cold in to help reduce swelling and stress around my eyes. The peppermint scent just opens my sinuses right up and helps me breathe so much better. That alone helps me to relax. The eye pillow itself blocks out any light which always helps my headaches! The company I purchased it from is A Touch Of Satin. Their website is http://www.atouchofsatin.com if anyone is interested.

    They use organic flax seed and organic peppermint leaves and that was important to me. If you think this will help you then you might want to give them a look. I hope this helps everybody. It certainly helps me!

  4. Rob Says:
    July 29th, 2009 at 2:20 pm

    Good article, but be careful when working on the SCM muscle. There are reflexes that affect blood pressure near that muscle.

  5. Harvey Morris Says:
    July 10th, 2010 at 12:08 pm

    i like aromatherapy because it is a very relaxing treatment.*`;

Leave a Comment