Why do some people suffer from regular headaches?
Headaches are a pain. We can all get them now and again, but for some of us, they’re more of a regular occurrence than others…
I have to admit that sometimes I am shocked at just how many people we see at the clinic who suffer from headaches. Quite a lot of the time the headache is present in conjunction with another injury. Many people suffer from these headaches so often that it just becomes a part of daily life, and they just put up with it.
That’s why pain relieving medication are such big sellers.
I want to let you know that these medications only relieve symptoms, when the true cause of recurring headache is quite possibly the result of something else that could be simply addressed, thus putting an end to those headaches.
So we had a patient in last week suffering with back. They also complained of recurrent headaches, especially when their back was sore! They sit in an office all day working on their computer, working to deadlines – quite stressful.
Her doctor gave some pain relieving medication which did help short term, yet her headaches and back pain remain.
She was at a bit of a loss despite seeking advice elsewhere, and came to us as almost to give it one last shot of getting rid of her pain.
Now, I had several ideas of what exactly I wanted to look at, and where exactly her pain was coming from.
In my years of experience, it’s often the case that if someone is suffering from recurrent, disheartening, regular episodes of headaches, that they just haven’t got to the real underlying root cause of their pain – and most of the time it’s nothing to do with anything that’s going on in the head!
Most frequently, recurring headaches are most likely to be as a result of tension in the shoulders, jaw or neck – something that many people aren’t even aware of. Even if you are suffering from back pain, the body tenses to restrict movement and the resulting problem can be headaches as well as back pain.
You see, while simple painkillers prescribed by the doctor may help take the pain away for a few hours, they aren’t actually doing anything to prevent them from coming back and hitting you hard when you least expect it. We hear it all the time, that after taking pain relief, a person feels great. As soon as that wears off, then BAM!! The pain returns.
The one thing most people disregard as a trigger is ‘stress’.
We all know stress does many things to our body, but where do we feel stress the most?
We feel it as tightness and tension in our neck and shoulder muscles – and all of this tension brings on headaches!
So imagine this(if your mornings are like mine), you are running late in the morning, you’re trying to get children breakfast and ready for school, plus getting yourself ready…it get’s pretty stressful sometimes.
So now add up those small stressors, to ones that you will also have through the day, and by the end of the week, you have a lot of tension around your shoulders.
This is why it’s important to deal with these things daily, without responding to them in a stressful way, so we can start to prevent headaches and make them occur less and less.
So what are some things you can do right now to help?
There’s a number of relaxation techniques that can reduce symptoms of stress. Making time for pleasurable activities such as listening to music, reading a book, or doing your favourite exercise. For me, I love going to my crossfit gym to really take my mind off things.
In addition, you should set aside time, even if it’s just 10 minutes a day, to practice a relaxation technique such as deep breathing.
Many of our clients attend our Pilates classes really love the class as it helps them reduce stress and tension, PLUS they feel they sleep much better. Another BIG PLUS too is that Pilates is helping to tone their bodies!
At the end of the day stress can make your head hurt – and a headache can really stress you out! So either way, to reduce the pain, we’ve got to rein in the stress.
If you need more tips to ease neck pain and headaches, you can download my free report here instantly:
It shows you how to ease pain naturally, without needing painkillers.
If you have any further questions or queries about headaches then please feel free to contact us or book your 100% FREE discovery visit by clicking HERE.