How to Head Off A Headache

Life. It’s full of twists and turns, highs and lows, joy and stress; and if you’re a mom of littles you may experience all of these emotions in a matter of minutes. I mean, the “terrible threes”…woof. Trying to understand the psyche of a three year old can be quiet the headache. But you know what’s even worse? Actually having a headache while trying to parent, work, or just live life. A headache can be very disrupting. It can prevent us from attending events, being with loved ones, or being productive. So what causes headaches anyways? Sometimes it is things out of our control like hormones or our environment. But in some cases it’s actually in our control and there are things you can do to help heed off a headache.

Common Causes of Headaches

Unfortunately headaches are fairly common. According to the WHO it’s estimated that 50-75% of the world’s population has experienced at least one headache in the last year. There are a variety of common causes of headaches. These include

• Diet
• Alcohol
• Environment
• Hormones
• Lack of Sleep
• Stress and Muscle Tension

Knowing what causes your headaches can be critical in preventing a headache onset. Triggers such as our environment (smoke, seasonal allergies, excessive light) and hormones are not something we can completely control. But diet, alcohol consumption, quality of sleep, and muscle tension are all possible contributors that we can modify or change in order to head off a headache onset.

Musculoskeletal Causes of Headaches

I am going to elaborate on the role our muscles can play in causing headaches. Muscle tension is one of the biggest contributors to tension type headaches. A tension headache is described as a diffuse generalized mild to moderate pain or tightness wrapping around your head. Tight muscles or muscle knots are often the cause of this pain.

Muscles can cause what is known as referred pain, meaning that the pain travels to different areas of the body separate from the specific location of the tissue injury or “problem”. This is what happens in the case of musculoskeletal related headaches. The muscles of our upper trap (shoulders), jaw, and the back and front of our neck can all cause referred pain around our head, eyes, ears, and even teeth.

Common causes of muscle related headache pain include:

• Bad posture
• Car accident (or other whiplash type injury)
• Jaw issues (TMJ, jaw clenching)
• Muscle strain from repetitive activities (i.e. lifting overhead, or holding a baby)

Tips for Headache Prevention

Luckily you can often prevent or reduce the frequency of headaches with some small modifications. Make sure you are using good posture when sitting, working, or reading. Be sure to check out my post all about why good posture matters for tips on posture. Ensure that the repetitive activities you are doing as a mom or otherwise are with good body mechanics. I have two posts for new moms and seasoned moms on body mechanic tips. For treatment of an injury or jaw issues you can speak with your doctor about a referral to physical therapy. Yes, we work on jaws too.

Tips to Heal Your Headache

Be sure to check out my post about good posture and exercises for improved posture as step one for headache prevention. But if you continue to experience frequent headache due to muscle tension try these tips to help heal your headache.

 

 

 

1.Neck Stretches – Check out my post What Causes Neck Pain to see a comprehensive list of great stretches for your neck. But one of my go-to stretches is an upper trap stretch. Gently drop one shoulder and pull your head to the opposite side. Hold for 30 seconds and repeat.

 

 

 

 

 

2.Self Upper Trap Release– A great little trick for getting rid of muscle knots or tension in the neck is by doing a self upper trap release. Make your hand into a “c” position. Face your palm towards you. Bring your hand to your sore shoulder (upper trap). Press your finger tips into your muscle and gently pull forward and down. Hold for at least 30 seconds or longer.

 

 

 

3. Tennis Balls – Use two tennis balls in a sock to reduce muscle tightness and tension in the muscles in the back of your neck. Place two tennis balls in a sock. Lay down and play the tennis balls at the base of your neck. Gently roll over the top of the tennis balls letting the balls press into the muscles of your neck. For more equipment for massage of tight muscles be sure to check out The Best & Cheapest Ways to Massage Yourself At Home.

 

What’s next?

If I have said it once, I’ve said it 48,567 times; the key to avoiding pain and feeling well is to have strong supportive muscles. Important muscle groups to work to prevent muscle tightness associated with headaches include your core and your mid back muscles. For easy at home exercises to work these muscles head over to:

• Time to straighten up (5 exercises to improve your posture)
• 5 core exercises for a better belly (without a single crunch)
• The #1 muscle for a tighter tummy & better body

 

Hasta la vista headaches!

–Monica