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:
…
which shows you how to ease pain naturally, without needing painkillers.
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