"HEADACHES ARE NOT ALL IN YOUR HEAD"

By Mary Jo Smiley CMTPT, LMT

 

Sarah had been involved in a relatively minor motor vehicle accident.  She was hit from behind, but it didn't do a LOT of damage to the car. For a minute, she just sat there till someone came to help her. Her head and neck hurt some, and since she had not even seen it coming, she was pretty shook up. But she got out and walked around a bit; the pain was mild, and she figured she would be fine.  Within days, she was experiencing rather severe headaches that seemed to be getting worse, and she called her doctor to make an appointment. Sarah felt that she wasn't getting much relief with over-the-counter medications, and they only went away for a few hours and returned. She was reluctant to use prescription drugs, but accepted the prescription from her doctor for stronger pain meds, but still got very little relief from the headaches.

A week later, she returned to her doctor, since the headaches had not improved much. At that point, she asked about massage because she had heard a friend rave about how well having trigger point therapy helped! Her Doctor was skeptical, but agreed to let her try it since her shoulders and neck were really tight and her range of motion in her neck was worse than last week. Medical massage is covered by most auto insurance companies.

Let's look at why treating the trigger points is so effective, non-invasive, empowering, and should be considered for the first-line treatment and not “last resort”.

An in-depth evaluation, including an extensive review of medical history, details of the accident, and Range of Motion tests are part of the first session.  We look for specific tender areas and restrictions in muscles, indicating the presence of trigger points.  Trigger points are hypersensitive “knots” of pain in a muscle that restricts range of motion, referring pain in a predictable pattern (usually) away from the site of the trigger point.

Consistent with a whiplash injury, many upper back and neck muscles were involved, with two of the most prominent.  One, the trapezius (illustration A) refers a very familiar pain pattern up the back of the neck and into the temples.  The sternocleidomastoid (SCM for short) was the other.  (Illustration B)  These muscles check-rein excessive forward and backward motion of the head, which often happens in an auto accident, even more so if hit from behind! The common diagnosis is "whiplash injury" or "cervical sprain/strain".

The Upper Trapezius muscle usually has trigger points in it. The common pain pattern is the classic tension headache, up the back of the neck and into the temples. Almost ALL tension headaches are the pain pattern of this muscle. Of course, there are many muscles that were also offended by the unexpected and sudden forward and slam back against the headrest. Each one will be examined and treated if needed.

The SCM can also produce pain, but in addition, this muscle often mimics the symptoms of a migraine headache, including pain on one side of the head,  tearing of the eyes, ringing in one ear, runny nose, nausea, dizziness, loss of balance, and blurred vision.

After appropriate treatment with Myofascial Trigger Point Therapy, Sarah no longer had head and neck pain.  All of the symptoms of the migraine headaches were resolved.  In addition, she is no longer getting frequent “tension headaches” and knows what to do when she feels one coming on!

Trigger points are not always caused by trauma; most of the time they are caused by everyday improper posture, repetitive motion, head-forward postures while working or driving, old injuries (even 20 years ago or more), and a multitude of other factors.

Have chronic headaches or migraines?

Tired of hearing it's all in your head, talking pills,

losing work or fun times with friends or family?

Call and set up a free 15-minute phone consultation. 724-494-1468

Mary Jo Smiley CMTPT, LMT at Advanced Bodywork and Massage 

will be able to help you!