Is It Really Possible to Stop Headache Pain with Massage?
Absolutely. If you’re looking to stop headache pain with massage techniques and you live in the Boston area, Dr. Ben Benjamin can help.
There are three common types of chronic headaches he can treat:
- Muscle tension headaches
- Migraines
- Headaches caused by an injury to the neck
Evaluation and Assessment of Headache Pain
You’ll start with an evaluation, where Dr. Benjamin asks questions about your pain and your lifestyle. Then he uses various hands-on tests to assess and help pinpoint the source of your headache pain.
Massage Therapy Treatment for Headache Pain
Upon completion of the evaluation, Dr. Benjamin will go over a suggested treatment plan with you, to be started at your next appointment. If your pain is caused by something only a physician can address, he will refer you out.
1. Muscle Tension Headaches
- Timeline: There is usually improvement in the first 4-6 weeks of treatment.
- Cause: These are caused by the accumulation of stress in the muscles of the face, head, and upper neck. If muscle tension builds up in the muscles of the face and upper neck, a headache will often result.
- In-Office: We work the muscles around the eyes, forehead, temples, jaw, and where the skull meets the neck (the occiput).
- At-Home: You also get special facial exercises to do that reduce tension buildup in the head and neck.
2. Migraine Headaches
- Timeline: Effective treatment usually takes 2-4 months.
- Cause: There is no known single cause of Migraine Headaches. We know that migraines involve abnormal brain activity that affects the blood vessels in the brain, and we know stress, foods, and sleep disturbances can trigger them.
- In-Office: We find the area of greatest tension in the head, face, and neck. This is often the trigger that starts the migraine. We work together to reduce tension in the head, neck, and facial muscles and perform special exercises targeting the muscles of the head and neck, as well as the brain.
- At-Home: You also get exercises to do that relax the muscles and act as a toolkit to use during an active migraine.
3. Headaches Caused by Neck Injury
- Timeline: Depending on the severity and age of the injuries, the treatment takes between 4 and 12 weeks.
- Cause: Neck injuries sometimes occur in the muscles at the back of the neck, where they attach the skull to the spine (suboccipital muscles). But more commonly, a neck injury is due to a sprain in the ligaments that attach your vertebrae together, a fact which is largely unknown. Both of these injuries can feel like a headache.
- In-Office: The treatment consists of breaking up the pain-producing adhesive scar tissue in both the ligaments and the muscles.
- At-Home: You will get rehabilitative exercises to do daily, in order to prevent painful scar tissue from returning.
Treating a Client with 20 Years of Daily Headaches
This video was originally for students of my work, but it also serves to show you what is possible with the type of treatment I do:
Are you experiencing headaches? Maybe you have migraines and are looking for relief. Or you have tension headaches that don’t seem to ever go away.
If you’re looking to stop headache pain with massage, book an evaluation with Dr. Ben Benjamin today.
FAQs
What are Dr. Ben Benjamin’s fees and policies?
You can read more about them on his Appointment Policies and Fees page.
How does the first appointment typically go?
You can read more about Dr. Benjamin’s appointments on his Evaluation and Treatment Sessions page.
What is the biggest cause of tension headaches?
Tension headaches are caused by the accumulation of stress in the muscles of the face, head, and upper neck.
How do you get rid of a tension headache?
Massage and other hands-on techniques are used to break up tension and relax the muscles. You will be given stress-reducing exercises to do daily.
How can I stop getting migraines every day?
When migraine headaches are connected to stress, hands-on tension-relieving techniques help reduce the severity and duration of the migraines.
Another part of treatment is the discovery process of finding your triggers and slowly eliminating them. Migraines may have many causes in the same person.
In addition to reducing stress in the body, sometimes the solution lies in what you eat, what you drink, your neck posture, the quality of your sleep, and so forth.
What is the fastest way to cure a migraine?
Unfortunately, there is no fast way to cure a migraine. The solution takes time.
A temporary fix for some people is medication, but permanently getting to the root of the problem takes a sustained effort.
If there is an active migraine during the treatment session, the source of the headache is sometimes revealed. It’s often in the muscles around the eyes, at the temples, or at the back of the neck where the muscles meet the skull.
I will also give you a toolkit of exercises to keep the tension low or to use when you feel a headache coming on.