Symptoms and Treatments: Frontal Headaches #1

Hi. This will be the first of hopefully many tutorials on how to treat various body pain.

People often get stuck doing the same repetitive motion everyday - either using the computer, swiping on the phone, or performing repeated physical movements at the construction site. This often leads to pain and numbness. Sometimes, the pain is occurring at strange places - areas of the body you don't expect to feel pain.

Wherever the symptoms are, the most common solution people fall back on are: 1. Pain medication or 2. Surgery. But you're here reading this because you know there's another option out there. And of course there is. You've found it, and I'll tell you all about it. So let's get on with what matters: how to treat your pain without medication, or invasive surgery.

Frontal Headaches

You know what this feels like. Perhaps you're reading this now with a frontal headache - finding it difficult to focus and concentrate on the words that you're reading, wishing the dull drumming pain would just go away.

I sympathize with your plight. Let's get to work on these four muscles. Don't worry, there's pictures - sweet glorious pictures so you know what to do. Here's the checklist of muscles we'll be massaging.

• Sternocleidomastoid (SCM)

Rule of thumb before we start:

1. When massaging, apply pressure, but not too much (just enough that it hurts a little).

2. Don't massage more than a minute at the area.

3. Massage affected painful areas up to six times a day.

And here's where we start.

The Sternocleidomastoid (SCM) Neck muscle.

1. Look at the mirror when doing this.

2. Turn your head to one side.

3. See that long thin bulge running down your neck? That's the SCM muscle.

4. Grab it with your thumb and fingers - starting at the middle of your neck

5. Turn head back to looking forward, and massage the muscle, working from middle to your ears, then back down to shoulders.

If you feel pain on massage, then the SCM muscle may be one of the sources of the headache.

Work this muscle - both sides of the neck, a minute at a time. Do this six times a day. If the frontal headaches go away, then, yay!

If not, seek a physician for treatment. Thanks for reading.

References:

Davies, C., & Davies, A. (2013). The trigger point therapy workbook: your self-treatment guide for pain relief. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications, Inc.