How to relieve headaches! Peanut ball massage (cervicogenic headache)

 

I tend to have frequent headaches. Sometimes I get headaches when I don't sleep well. My trapezius muscles feel stiff, and I also experience headaches. When this happens, I use peanut ball massage as a way to relieve the headache.

Placing peanut balls in the hollowed areas on both sides at the top back of the neck and moving your head side to side can help relax the trapezius muscles and also make your head feel refreshed.

In addition to peanut balls, pressing with a pressure point tool to relieve tension also works well.

 

When I have a headache like this, I suspect it might be cervicogenic headache.

 

What is cervicogenic headache?

 

The back of our neck, specifically the occipital region of the head, is connected to the neck muscles. Among these muscles, the outermost one, just beneath the skin of the occipital and neck area, is the trapezius muscle. The trapezius attaches from the clavicles of both shoulders and the 7th to 8th thoracic vertebrae to the middle of the lower part of the occipital bone (about two finger-widths below the occipital protuberance).

The trapezius muscle is covered by fascia, and the vagus nerve passes through this fascia, emerging to innervate the skin and muscles from the occiput to the forehead and around the eyebrows. The left and right greater and lesser occipital nerves originate from the first and second cervical vertebrae, while the third occipital nerve arises from the third cervical vertebra and extends to the scalp.

If tension develops in our neck (cervical spine), what changes might occur? A normal cervical spine is curved in a C-shape from front to back. When the neck tilts forward, the cervical spine becomes straightened. This is called a straight neck, also known as a turtle neck or forward head posture. When the neck becomes straightened, the area most affected is the outer part of the trapezius muscle. In the case of a straight neck, the distance from the occipital region to the shoulder area will be longer than in a C-shaped neck, and therefore the trapezius muscle must lengthen, causing it to remain tense. Similarly, the fascia covering the elongated and tense trapezius muscle will also become taut.

Secondary compression (called nerve entrapment) occurs when the tightened fascia is pierced and the occipital nerve emerges, causing nerve-like pain in the areas served by these nerves. If the nerve going to the forehead is affected, it may cause pain similar to frontal headache; if it affects the area above one ear, it may cause headache similar to migraine; and if it affects the back of the head, it may cause occipital headache. All of these are called cervicogenic headaches.

 

Causes of cervicogenic headache

 

Computer work, smartphone use, prolonged sitting with head bowed, incorrect driving posture, improper sleeping posture, and the use of pillows.

 

If it worsens, I should go to the hospital, but massage and

Pain can be sufficiently alleviated through yoga and back exercises.

I am combining massage and yoga.

 

I hope this was helpful~ Have a great day.