Why And How Massage Helps With Migraines?

Almost everyone has suffered a crippling headache in their lives at least once. Getting migraines on a regular basis can be hazardous and impact our daily routine and lifestyle and if this happens, you should immediately go to the doctor for a checkup. Usually, migraines are caused by stress and can be relieved by medicines, but they can also be relieved by naturally through massage therapy.

What Are Migraines?

A migraine is a headache that may be moderate to severe. It can involve symptoms like: nausea, sensitivity to light, photoelectric seizures and a tingling sensation in your arms and legs. Chronic headaches is the most common disease found in people. The cause of these headaches is unknown, but some attributions can be stress, depression or anxiety.
Migraines can also cause neck pain, which is why massaging your neck can relieve some of the stress. Migraine managing has greatly improved over the last two decades with the advancement of medicines and the focus on controlling them, but a full cure or cause is still to be discovered because migraines can occur at random. The National Headache Foundation has studied that every 1 in 5 student children in America between ages 5-17 suffers from chronic headaches.
Most common types of headaches are muscle tension headaches and vascular headaches.

1. Muscle tension headaches are described as having a “vice-like grip” which means dull pain on both sides of the head almost as if there is someone crushing your head by placing their hands on the temple. This can also cause neck ache and sensitivity to the skull. These headaches can last for hours to days.

2. Vascular headaches can be described as a throbbing and pounding on the skull. This can cause some vision problems, nausea, and sensitivity to light. When the blood vessels in your brain swell a vascular headache is formed. These restrict a human from performing physical activities. They last for hours to days as well.

How Does Massages Help In Relieving Migraine?

Migraines can be reduced by removing stress and tension and a way to remove these is through massages. Massages induce serotonin in the brain causing it to relax. People who got massages for migraines found themselves relieved of stress, without a headache, sleeping better and with fewer symptoms of distress.
Massages are said to be the most effective against migraines. The way it works is that it releases: muscle spasms, tense muscles and shortened muscles. Regular massages remove overall stress and muscle tension by causing blood that is rich in oxygen flow throughout the head. Ease of muscle tension means less pressure on the nerves so they can better regulate blood flow. Trigger points are points in the body that have a hyper-irritable tissue which helps to decrease stress level and migraines. Massages promote blood circulation and produces endorphins that help stimulate your brain with the feeling of relaxation.

Massages are done in a wide variety of techniques. It depends on the type and intensity of your migraine. Here are a few types of massages done for migraine relief:

Trigger Point Massage

Trigger point massages target the trigger pressure point of the human body. You may not know but different points of our body are connected to different points and when massaging them it relieves the pain in the connected part. Most of the parts; like the upper part of your eyes are connected to the brain and massaging them has resulted in relief of migraine.

Deep Tissue Massage

This type of massage helps to relax the strained muscles in your head that are a root cause of migraines. Firm pressure is applied to the head in the form of knuckles or thumbs being moved in slow strokes. Deep tissue massage is the most effective in reducing migraines.