There are several reasons why you can get headaches. These can range from tension to stress, sinuses to dehydration, even from hormonal to side effects from medication to lack of sleep. There are more reasons for why you can get headaches, but these are the most common. For the most part massage can help with these types of headaches, but there are a few that are the exception.
The ones that massage can’t help with are hormonal, dehydration and from side effects from your medication. For all of these, all massage can do is lessen the symptoms that you are getting, rather then getting rid of the problem that is causing them to begin with. Some of these are easy to fix, like dehydration, where all you have to do is drink more hydrating fluid and stay away from things that are dehydrating, like coffee, or other caffeinated drinks. Others, caused by hormonal imbalance and side effects from medications, you will have to see your doctor and possibly get another prescription, or change the medication that you are currently on to be able to get rid of the headache.
Sinus Headache
This can be caused by two different things, either your sinuses are blocked, potentially from an obstruction, or even swelling from allergies, or it can be caused by a viral or bacterial infection. If it is caused by an infection, the only way to get rid of the sinus headache would be medication to fight the infection.
If you don’t have an infection, then massage therapy can help. The way that a sinus headache is treated is with steam inhalation, to help break up anything organic that could be obstructing the nasal cavity. After the nasal cavity is moistened, work is done along the neck and into the face to help increase blood circulation and decrease swelling if it is present. After pressure point therapy is used over the sinuses (frontal, which are just below the eyebrow, and/or maxillary, which are just beside the nostrils), sometimes this is done with or without the use of ice. When ice is used, the therapist may place their thumb into the ice to chill their finger, rather then using direct contact with the ice itself, against the sinus.
If the sinuses seem to be really blocked and still don’t seem to be draining, sometimes the therapist will use gentle vibrations. Using their finger, gentle vibrating over the top of the sinuses to help release anything that is sticking to the edges of the sinuses. For this entire treatment, you will be in a seated or reclined position, to help with draining and tissues will be available for you if you are starting to notice your sinuses are draining, and you will be able to blow your nose. Also if your therapist has a certificate in reflexology, sometimes they will also include working on the pressure points that work on your sinuses which are located in your hands and feet.
Note: If you have an object, which can happen with children, up the nose, then it will have to be removed by a doctor, as no amount of steam or massage therapy will be able to help in this situation.
Tension/Stress Headaches
A lot of times stress headaches turn into tension headaches, just from the sheer fact that when we are stressed we tense up a lot of different muscles that can cause you to have headaches. For a tension headache, the treatment can vary between clients. This is because several different muscles can cause headaches, and it will be the areas that are tense that will be focused on, though the whole head and neck can still be worked on even if those specific muscles may not be the cause of the headache itself.
In general, you can get headaches from the muscles that are in the shoulder area, which do extend into the upper back. Other areas include the neck, base of the skull, scalp, cheeks, and even a bit into the upper chest, along the collar bone. When being treated in these areas, the therapist is looking to relieve tension, trigger points (active and inactive knots in the muscle), as well as any adhesions (fibres within the tissue that cause restrictions to protect them when they have been overused or overstretched). Sometimes when these areas have been released there is a chance that you can get a headache afterwards, this is common, due to the circulation no longer being restricted, and the body has to adapt back to regular circulation. If this happens, place something cool on the forehead and heat to the feet while laying down. This will decrease the pressure in the head, and bring it down towards the feet.
Headaches Due to Lack of Sleep
This type of treatment is more for ways to help you sleep, then the headache itself. This would be more of a relaxation type of treatment, to treating the same type of areas that would be done for the tension headaches, or any other area that is causing you pain that could be keeping you from being able to sleep. Once you are able to better manage your sleeping habits, these headaches will diminish on their own.
When it comes to headaches you really shouldn’t be having them very often, and if you do have them regularly, at least once every couple of months, then you should possibly see your doctor to find out what could be causing them. There are more then 200 different reasons why someone could have a headache, and they could be a symptom of something much more serious, and it would be better to have it diagnosed sooner rather then later. Plus if you know what is causing your headaches, you will have an easier time avoiding them in the future.