massage therapy

[mek42]

The doc says my migraine may be mechanical due to muscle spasm at occipital area of skull. Going for massage appointment soon to test this hypothesis.

Has anyone else done massage therapy for migraines?

[mimijolene]

I have not, but am very interested in your results. I have had a few migraines recently for the first time in my life--I really feel for those of you who suffer with it constantly. I pray mine were flukes and don't become the norm. Best of luck and keep us posted!

[Missy]

I haven't, but my doctor suggested a Tens treatment for mine, and even if it's just all in my head so to speak, i find that it helps.

I hope the maggage therapy helps you.

[mauimagic]

Massage has helped me with migraine headaches - cannot always afford it - but it offers a great release. Please let us know how your massage works for you.

[Ceashels]

Yes, when I worked as a PT I did postural evaluations of the patients with chronic migraines. Those little pesky suboccipital muscles are deep but do a heck of a lot of work to keep our heads on straight... literally. Years of working at a desk, college, computer, and doing things in poor alignment can wreak havoc with them.

If migraines are truly being triggered by them, massage will help but you need to do exercises to help strengthen the muscles and improve head and neck posture. PT can offer this that Massage Therapy can not. If you are able to correct the problem then this type of migraine can be significantly reduced.

I hope your massage went well this afternoon and that you are feeling better.

[mauimagic]

The power of suggestion.....after reading this thread I called my masseuse and scheduled a massage for Thursday. My goal is at minimum 1 massage a month and if I can figure out how to do it, bumping that up to two monthly!!

[mek42]

It wasn't an Elixir of Cure Migraine, but I am feeling some benefit, I think. Will know more tomorrow.

How do I go about exploring PT? Do I need a physician referral or can I just call up and say I'd like to look into PT as a migraine preventative?

Maybe I'll do some reading to see if there are any lifts that target the suboccipitals in a way to retrain them from sedentary life.

[Ceashels]

Third party payers (insurance) will need a dr's referral. But some places will treat without one if you are paying out of pocket.

If you are already seeing a dr then ask if they can write you a referral. Most Massage Therapists don't get well trained in something as specific as the suboccipital muscles and just massaging the neck isn't going to work.

You'll want to be doing things like chin tucks to start.

Posture is such a crucial part of this. Even something like slouching shoulders that cause tight pectoral can have a horrible effect on the neck in terms of positioning. Even postural deviations lower in the spine can have a ripple effect. It's all connected.

[mek42]

Well, it seems like many people susceptible to headache (I seriously think I lost a few hundred more spelling neurons from this, hopefully I'm just dopey and I'm thankful for Firefox spell check) in our area are down now too, so while I'm continuing to take the migraine meds, I'm investigating sinus as an option. So, more hot showers with copious nose blasting (yes, I mean blasting, I'm in the shower and just letting loose - no sissy nose blowing going on here) and forcing myself to stay upright more and not lay down so much.

I'm noticing that after forcing myself to stay upright for 4 hours, the pain dramatically subsides (or this is just the prescription anti-inflammatory kicking in - too many variables :doh: ). So of course, now I think I should just not sleep.

Anyhow, I'll keep you all posted as to what is going on if I figure it out, or even if the pain just goes away.

[mauimagic]

Mahalo for the update meks and the info Ceashells. Always appreciate any and all information you all share!!