The dreaded tension headache

Hello everyone!. Have any of you ever had a headache the just feels like a band squeezing around your head? Then like me you have all most likely experienced a tension headache. It's certainly not fun and something we all wish to avoid. The cause of this type of headache is thought to be stress as well as poor posture. The classic example is sitting at the computer hunched over and head forward. It is thought this position creates stress by overworking the muscles in the neck that are fighting to keep your head up for hours and hours while you work. This leads to a whole pattern of compensation where the body uses every muscle it can to keep that head of yours from collapsing. These compensating muscles are not meant to bear the brunt of keeping your head stable and they exhaust quickly. The contraction of the muscles working to hold your head up cause a great deal of tension which quickly becomes irritating and achy.

There is a solution. Mindful sitting is what is needed to create a long term healthy habit and improve on seated posture. Especially being mindful of where your head is in relation to the rest of your body. The most efficient position, the one that taxes the muscles the least for most people is holding your head right over your shoulders and shoulders over the hips.

Massage therapy is also a great option if the muscles in your neck, back and shoulders are so tight and restricted you are unable to hold your head over your shoulders. The combination of manual work on the tight muscles and stretching have been a powerful tool in helping people reduce some of the neck tension resulting from poor postural habits.

As always, thank you very much for taking your precious time to read this. I am very grateful for your attention and I hope you have a lovely day of enjoyment and whimsy.