Myofascial Dysfunction
Neck and head pain are the most common expressions of myofascial dysfunction, yet chronic headache sufferers respond badly to diagnoses of “muscle tension headache.” The labels of “vascular” headache or “neurological disease” seem more respectable, more likely to be taken seriously.
But “vascular” doesn’t stop at the head; “neurological” isn’t restricted to the brain or spine. Tight muscles and fascia press, shear, block, and strangle both blood vessels and nerves throughout the body. “Muscle tension headache” can mean very simply “headache due to tight muscles” but from there it has been a short trip to “You’re just tense” and . . . “Have you considered psychiatric counseling?” with the clear implication that…The pain is not real. YOU are just crazy.
But you are NOT crazy! Having a chronic headache is frustrating, saps your strength and happiness, and makes it difficult to function. But as you look at the term most often associated with chronic headaches, “tension,” you have to ask yourself, “What is tense, and if it is, how can I relax it?”
The muscles of the head and neck are meant to function to turn your head, smile, chew your food, nod, and express emotions. But like any muscle, they’re meant to rest when not in use. If you unconsciously tense muscles by clenching or grinding your teeth, sit or walk with a head-forward posture, press your tongue against the roof of your mouth, etc, then you’re unnecessarily tensing muscles that should be at rest. And many of us do that even in our sleep, so instead of resting and waking refreshed, our muscles remain tensed and our headache could be even worse in the morning than when we laid down!
So how do we change this?
First, recognize that the muscles need help, then treat the headache like sore muscles. What do you do for sore muscles? Massage them, ice them, rest them. Let me work with you to relieve the stress and tension in your muscles and to finally experience a PAIN FREE DAY!
In my office I work with patients to identify behaviors that are agravating the muscles that are producing the headaches, relaxing and releasing the tension in those muscles through massage and manipulation, then working with the patient to correct the behaviors that are tensing the muscles that are producing the pain.
If, under stress, you can relax the muscles that produce the pain, you can get through the stress WITHOUT the pain! That is my goal for my patients, and I work individually with them to relax the muscles, educate them in their own behaviors, then work to modify them until they have continuous pain free days!
Contact me today to schedule an appointment for a consultation and massage: 319/841-2150 or 319/431-7186.