3 Reasons Massage Therapy Can Help Your Headache

Massage therapy has shown to be effective in treating migraine and tension headaches. This is our appraoch to making sure your pain goes away, and stays away. 

Benefits of Relieving Tension-Related Headaches

• Decreases occurrences of tension headaches, sleep disturbances and distress symptoms
• Allows one to maintain a level of relaxation and stress-relief, reducing the chances of stress induced migraines
• Massage for headaches can also reduce muscle spasms and trigger points

Both tension headaches and migraines have been effectively treated by massage therapy. Not only can massage help relieve headache pain, but it can also help to prevent headaches from occurring. 

Massage promotes circulation.

Massage can increase blood flow in areas that might be ischemic (lacking blood flow) and therefore help relieve pain.

Massage decreases pain from Trigger Points

Trigger Points are areas of hyper-irritable tissue that are very tender and also can refer pain to other areas of the body. Trigger Point Therapy can help decrease the pain and referrals into the neck and head.

Massage relieves muscle spasms/tension

Massage can help loosen chronically tight muscles and taught bands of tissue. This helps with muscle balance and neck alignment. Also, loosening the muscles that attach to the base of the skull (sub-occipitals) can relieve the tension headaches that travel up the back of the head and into the eye and the ‘vice-like’ constricting headaches so many people suffer from.

Massage decreases your stress (hormone)

Massage therapy has shown to decrease levels of the stress hormone cortisol. Massage therapy also increases endorphins and stimulates the Para-Sympathetic Nervous system, therefore promoting relaxation. Because of this hormone effect, massage therapy can improve the quality of your sleep.  It is a happy little cycle: decrease stress = better sleep = fewer headaches = decrease stress =……and so on and so forth.