Looking For Headache Or Migraine Treatment? Try Therapeutic Massage

Everyone gets a headache from time to time. Some headaches go away on their own while other people find relief with a little help from pain relievers. At worst, these types of headaches can be annoying. However, there are some types of headaches which can be truly debilitating, preventing people from doing their chores or work tasks properly.

Despite their prevalence (or because of this), headaches can be considered costly. On one hand, you have direct costs like medication, hospitalisation, CT scans and the fee of medical professionals. And then you have indirect costs like absence and loss of productivity.

Research shows that headaches can even affect children, with the condition being more prevalent among young boys. But upon puberty, it is those who belong to the fairer sex who are more prone to having headaches.

There are four types of headaches, namely: tension, migraine, sinus and cluster headaches. Tension headaches are the most common type and are caused by the tightening and contraction of the muscles in the neck, face and scalp. Migraines are more painful than tension headaches and cause sufferers to stop what they are doing altogether. While the underlying cause of this headache is yet to be determined, research shows that it can be triggered by a variety of factors like hormonal changes, some types of food and drinks, inadequate sleep and stress.

Sinus headaches occur when the sinuses are infected by bacteria. Typically, this headache is accompanied by a runny or stuffy nose. Cluster headaches, on the other hand, refer to the kind of headache that can last from a few days to months, interspersed with periods of being headache-free.

In some instances, headaches can be a symptom of something that is more serious like high blood pressure, aneurysm, brain tumour or stroke. While a short nap or a pain reliever can provide relief to a headache, you should immediately consult a medical professional if the headache persists for an extended period of time, if you lose balance and feel weak, if you are nauseous, if you have lost consciousness and if you experience anything out of the usual.

If you are looking for headache or migraine treatment, you should consider therapeutic massage instead of simply popping another pain reliever pill. Massage therapy can relieve you of the pain you are feeling and even prevent it from occurring.

Massage promotes blood circulation which can help ease pain. Trigger point therapy can help relieve pain that is caused by trigger points. But apart from pain relief, regular massage therapy stimulates the release of endorphins and the elimination of the stress hormone cortisol.