Many things can trigger headaches, but thankfully there are just as many effective natural remedies for them. Massage therapy is one of these natural treatments. Much more than just a luxury indulgence, massage can get to the root of your headache pain and provide lasting relief.

Headache Treatments You’ve Probably Already Tried

Headache pain is most often managed with pharmacological treatments. However, medications and their side effects can cause problems of their own. For example, long-term use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatories, such as ibuprofen, acetaminophen and aspirin, may cause stomach ulcers, accelerate cartilage loss, contribute to osteoarthritis and damage your liver and kidneys. Steady use of these drugs, especially in increasing dosages, can also lead to medication overuse headaches, commonly known as rebound headaches. So, by popping pills to relieve headaches you can actually make them more frequent. Since as many as one adult in 20 has a headache every single day it’s time to spread the word that there are other alternatives.

Massage Therapy: A Better Way to relieve Tension Headaches

Evidence suggests that massage therapy can have many positive effects on tension-type headaches caused by knots in muscles and/or connective tissues, poor posture and ergonomics and stress. Massage intervention has been known to reduce the incidence, duration and severity of headache attacks. How, you ask? Massage therapists use various soft tissue techniques to help relieve headache pain, decrease muscle tension, ease stress and anxiety and promote relaxation.  These techniques include: Muscle Release - During a muscle contraction, such as in a tension headache, circulation in the muscle is reduced. Consequently, waste products in the blood get trapped in the area, rather than flowing out properly. By breaking up this obstruction and bringing circulation back into the area, massage therapy restores normal muscle functioning and relieves headache pain. It is very important to drink lots of water after a massage to help flush these released toxins from your body quickly. Myofascial Trigger Point Release - A trigger point is a tense spot in a muscle or connective tissue that is painful to the touch and can send pain elsewhere in the body. For example, trigger points in the shoulder muscles often cause tension headaches by transferring pain to the back of the neck and head, specifically around the temple and jaw. Releasing these trigger points in the shoulders is an effective way to stop the occurrence of tension headaches, as well as improve lymphatic drainage, circulation, nerve conduction and help organ function. Relaxation - Stress affects the balance of the body, which can sometimes produce headaches. Massage therapy counters the body’s response to stress through soothing pain, reducing anxiety, improving sleep quality and encouraging overall health and wellness.

Massage Therapy at Mr Vitamins

Two of the Mr Vitamins Naturopaths are qualified Massage Therapists as well. Monica Ducrou  combines her experience of massage and bodywork with the therapeutic benefits of naturopathic treatments. Yasmin Issa  uses massage therapy as one of the pathways to restore balance and wellbeing. Yasmin combines this with herbal medicine and nutritional healing. Find out more about Yasmin here...