Headaches

All my life I have suffered from tension headaches. As a teen, my parents even took me to a doctor who stated matter-of-factly, "Just stop putting your hair in a ponytail." Very helpful... By coincidence my hair has been short all my life since that moment.

In massage school 9 years ago, I discovered the first source of relief that won't destroy my kidneys. As we learned to massage to relieve others' headaches, we also got to receive the work ourselves. My headaches went away as long as I was receiving a massage a couple times a month. When I let it lapse, they returned. For me this was a breakthrough.

Over the years I have had numerous clients who come in only for headache relief. Just a 15-30 minute neck session 2-4 times a month does the trick for 90% of people with headache or migraine issues.

Chiropractic also has its merits for this problem of headaches as well. Since I have been a chiropractic and massage client for several years, I can tell the difference between a muscular headache and I spinal-misalignment-induced headache. So I know when I just need an adjustment, or when I need bodywork. For those of you who have tried massage and it hasn't worked for you, I would suggest trying chiropractic. For those of you that have tried chiropractic and it has worked, I would suggest trying massage. But make sure you get someone who know what they are doing. I have found in my own experience receiving massage that there is a great disparity between therapists, even those who attended the same school. So do your homework. Get a referral. It makes a difference.