Massage Therapy To Release The Lower Back
- Stand up and put your hands on your waist, with your thumbs behind you and fingers facing forward.
- Gently press your thumbs into the muscles at either side of the spine — but be careful not to press on the spine itself.
- Keep your thumbs pressed in while you move in a very tiny motion — up, down, and around in a tiny circle. Spend extra time where you find a tender point – making sure not to cause pain.
- Move your thumbs gradually, an inch at a time, up either side of the spine as far as your hands can comfortably reach. Then gradually move back down your back and press on the bony surface of the sacrum.
The Shoulder Well Pressure Point Gallbladder 21
Youll find the shoulder well pressure point at the highest part of the shoulder halfway between the shoulder point and the base of the neck.
Stimulating this area can relieve stiffness and pain in the neck and shoulders and the resulting headaches. It can also remove the weight off the shoulders that accumulates from poor posture. Finally, it releases stress and tension in the upper body.
How to stimulate the shoulder well pressure point for headaches:
Take your thumb and apply firm pressure in a circular motion for one minute. Switch and repeat on the opposite side.
Because the shoulder well pressure point encourages energy flow downward, it is not recommended for pregnant women.
The Gates Of Consciousness Pressure Point Gallbladder 20
The gates of consciousness pressure point for headaches is located at the base of either side of your skull in the hollow areas between the two vertical parallel neck muscles.
The gallbladder 20 point is one of the best migraine pressure points, as it also addresses blurred vision, low energy, and fatigue. It is also beneficial for easing anxiety and stress. If you deal with insomnia or frequent sleep disturbances, you may also find relief in using this point. Most notably, it can help soothe tension and pain in the neck.
How to stimulate the gates of consciousness pressure point:
Place the fingers on the points, using your index and middle finger . Press firmly upward for 10 seconds and repeat.
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Using Pressure On Face And Scalp Muscles
What Kind Of Massage Will Help
Massage that focuses on the spine and neck will help to relieve headache pain. One of the best kinds of massage for headaches in Shiatsu. This technique uses pressure from the fingers to acupuncture points.
Another technique that has been helpful is trigger point therapy. This is done by apply pressure along specific points of the trapezius muscle. This muscle extends from your mid-back to your skull. This is to help move the muscles into a healthy position so they arent causing pain.
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What Cause Headaches In General
To understand headaches after massage, lets recap some general info about headaches. Headaches range in intensity from mild to very severe pain. The pain can be described as sharp, shooting, throbbing, dull, squeezing, or aching.
The most common type of headache is a tension headache. It often feels like a band being tightened around the head and may be accompanied by neck pain. If youre experiencing a headache after a massage, its most likely a tension headache.
Here are some common causes of headaches in general:
- Blood pressure changes. One mechanism that may produce various types of headaches is the rapid constricting or dilating of blood vessels in the head. This can be the result of dehydration, hormonal changes, stress, eating certain foods, muscle tension, sex, extreme heat or cold, exercising, or sleeping too much.
- Irregular schedule, stress, and less sleep. Contributing factors for tension-type headaches include stress, emotional and mental conflict, irregular diet, an irregular meal schedule, strenuous exercise, depression, and disrupted sleep patterns.
- Hormone changes. Another common cause of headaches are hormone changes. Although big hormone changes are most often thought of in association with menstruation, pregnancy, menopause, or use of hormone replacement and oral contraceptives, hormone levels naturally change in both men and women.
- Not enough water.Dehydration, or not drinking enough water, is another common cause of headache.
Giving A Seated Massage
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How To Find The Right Therapist
Any well-trained massage therapist should be able to provide treatment that relaxes your body and mind. If you hope to see a massage therapist who has specific knowledge about the role of massage for migraine relief, youâll need to do some research.
- You can search the AMTAâs website for a therapist near you. Use the search term âmigraine,â in addition to your city.
- On your own or through your health care provider, find a headache center near you that offers massage.
- Before you book a massage, ask if the therapist has taken a continuing education course on massage for migraines, which offers education about migraines and the appropriate types of massage to ease migraine pain.
You can also be your own massage therapist. Ask your headache doctor or a trusted massage therapist for tips on technique. And donât forget the ancient practice of acupressure, which has a long history of use for easing pain and headaches. Use your right thumb and forefinger to squeeze the fleshy tissue at the base of your left thumb and forefinger. Press down and massage the area for 5 minutes, and then switch hands.
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Neck And Shoulders: Gates Of Consciousness And Shoulder Well
The gates of consciousness, also called Feng Chi, refer to two pressure points where the base of the skull joins the neck of the neck. It is believed that applying pressure to these points can help relieve migraines and neck tension.
The shoulder well, also called Jian Jing, is a pressure point located at the top of each shoulder near the base of the neck within the upper trapezius muscles. It is believed that applying pressure to these points can help relieve stress, muscle tension, and headaches.
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Headache At The Back Of The Head: Stage : Self Massage With The Hands
Here you will be working the same areas as those in step 2. However, here I will be showing you how to do it with your hands. The massage technique I recommend for this is the pressure-motion technique.
You can work very precisely with the hands, apply pressure where needed and focus on small areas.
However, fingers get tired quickly, so you should take short breaks regularly.
In addition, the massage is not as relaxing as with a massage tool, because you have to actively apply pressure with your arms and fingers.
Shape your hand like a shovel and press on the neck muscles with your fingertips. Look for sensitive spots.
Once you find one, stay there, keep applying pressure and make small yes-no head movements.
The pain will vary during these movements. Focus primarily on sensitive spots caused by the movements without increasing the pain.
In order to holistically treat the pain at the back of your head, work on the rear AND lateral part of the neck muscles as shown in step 2.
Below is a list of other areas and muscles that can cause pain in the back of the head.
You have already worked on the most important ones.
Keep In Mind Before You Start
With all of these exercises, remember, you never want to cause yourself pain — but you do want to reach the area that is tender, because that is where the tension is. Always stretch the muscle out after massaging the area.
“If these moves do not ease your pain, contact your doctor to rule out any underlying medical problem,” says massage therapist Dale Grust. “Never substitute self-massage for proper medical treatment.”
And enjoy.
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A Simple Success Story: Treating A Tension Headache With Suboccipital Massage
The yowly one
Not in yowly mode.
My cat once woke me up with a particularly insistent feed-me-now yowl. Normally I would have been irritated, but on that day she was doing me a favour, because my neck was in a crazy position and I was cooking up a violent headache. It was already spreading across the back of my skull like a toxic spill.
Sleeping is dangerous!
I can only assume it would have been even worse without my furry early warning system, but within an hour my headache was yowling more than the cat, who was by then fed and settled in the cat sauna. Late in her life, she became fond of sleeping in the bathroom with the heat lamp on presumably it was therapeutic for her cranky ol body. I decided to follow her example and warmed the back of my head up with one of my big, thick and lovely Thermophore heating pads and then settled in for a dose of urgently needed massage for Perfect Spot No. 1. Then, using a Knobble massage tool, which is just perfect for this location, I applied some intense pressure to my suboccipital muscles. And then I followed that up with a good dose of mobilizations .
The Knobble II by Trigger Point Products is a good shape for self-massage of the suboccipital area.
What Does Perfect Spot No 1 Feel Like
In addition to generally producing the best quality of the deep sweet ache that most people crave from massage, trigger point referral into the head has a sedative feeling that cant be beat. Just as trigger point referral elsewhere in the body often feels pleasantly paralyzing, creating a deadening or heavy feeling that usually spreads out and down like a heavy blanket, trigger point referral from the suboccipitals does this too but into your head. With the right pressure, in the positive context of therapeutic massage, that sensation is deliciously soporific.
Many people report these positive sensations in this location, even those who arent otherwise especially triggery, and who may have the idea that massage is kind of pointless . When I worked as a massage therapist, I often observed that even quiet and unresponsive clients taciturn, or just really zoned out would clearly react to pressure in the suboccipitals. A client who hadnt made a sound for fifty minutes would suddenly groan with relief and say, Oh, thats a good spot. Its that reaction that originally inspired this series of articles: its the prototypical perfect spot for massage.
Pain produced by trigger points in the suboccipitals is also often vague and ghostly, as Travell and Simons put it.
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Paying in your own currency is always cheaper! My prices are set slightly lower than current exchange rates, but most cards charge extra for conversion.
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Tips To Relieve Headache With Neck Pain
Headache with neck pain can be a double whammy that makes it difficult to move the head and/or concentrate. While headaches can cause the muscles in your neck to become stiff and painful, a problem in your neck, such as irritated nerves, can also cause headaches. Common conditions where you may experience headache and neck pain together are:
Several conditions can cause neck pain and headache to occur together. ReadWhat Is Causing My Neck Pain and Headache?
Here are 11 tips to help relieve headache and neck pain without medication. Just remember to stop a treatment if it makes your pain worse.
What Are Secondary Headaches
Secondary headaches account for the other 10%. These headaches are a symptom of an underlying disease that activate the sensory nerves of the head, resulting in pain. The types and causes of these headaches can be wide. You can see a comprehensive list of possible causes here. The most common we see in clinic are as follows.
1 Cervicogenic Headaches
Cervicogenic headaches are chronic headaches that arise from the joints at the top of the spine, where the neck vertebra meet the skull. The main symptoms tend to be pain on one side of the head and face, sometimes into the neck and shoulder, and even sometimes into the arm. Range of movement in the neck is often reduced too.
2 Concussion
It is usually obvious that you may have concussion as it invariably is proceeded by a trauma to the head and neck. The symptoms are usually temporary. As well as a headache you can also get ringing in the ears, nausea, vomiting, blurry vision, confusion, dizziness, fatigue or drowsiness, loss of memory, forgetfulness, delayed response to questioning and slurred speech, among others.
3 Sinusitis Or Infection Related Headaches
Sinusitis results in pain, tenderness and sometimes swelling around your cheeks, eyes and forehead. You may experience a blocked nose, reduced sense of smell and a high temperature as well as your headache.
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Massage Therapy To Soothe Tired Feet
- Bring your left foot onto the seat of your chair so you can see your instep. Using your right thumb, apply very firm pressure along the side of your foot, working from the heel to the big toe. Walk your thumb across the ridge where the toes meet the ball of your foot. When you get to the small toe, use your thumb and index finger to squeeze and twist along the entire surface of the toe. Work each toe individually until you get back to the large toe. Take all of your toes in one hand and stretch them back and forth, bending and flexing.
- While supporting the top of your left foot with your left hand, use the knuckles of your right hand to apply deep pressure to the entire surface of the bottom of your foot, working from the heel to the toes and back down.
- Stretch your toes, flex and extend your feet, and do a few ankle rotations.
Repeat the entire process on the right foot
How To Give Yourself A Head Massage
For tension headaches: Place your fingers flat against your temples and slowly move them in a circular fashion.
For cluster headaches: Pinching the bridge of your nose and slowly along the eyebrow line helps to reduce tension around the eyes and sinuses.
For stress-induced headaches: Circular movements with your fingertips from the cheekbone down towards your jaw can ease off the tension from feeling stressed and clenching your teeth.
As for migraines, Chamness says that migraines tend to be caused by a chemical or hormonal imbalance in the body, so self-massage wouldnt necessarily aid with the condition itself. It can, however, help to reduce the stress and tension in the body from experiencing a migraine.
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