Tension headaches, any suggestions?

[ButterflyWoman]

I frequently suffer from tension headache, which is a specific kind of headache caused by uneven tension in the muscles in your scalp. It can be triggered by almost anything (including some foods), and the fact that I tend to grit my teeth when I'm in pain doesn't help (I'm working on breaking that habit, but I don't even realise I'm doing it).

I've found energy work to be really helpful for relieving local joint pain, but I'm not very successful in relieving headache pain. I've tried various kinds of brushing, bouncing, etc.

Happy to take suggestions on ways to get rid of these blasted headaches. They can last a week or more (longest I ever had was six weeks! :shock:) and I really don't want to keep on with the codeine that is frequently necessary to keep the pain managable. There MUST be a way to do this energetically.

[boris]

im in a similar boat. i get alot of headaches and i do the teeth grinding thing too, its strange you suddenly realise you've been grinding your teeth for the last 5 minutes, it just feels wrong somehow.

I sometimes find imagining a cooling blue shower-cap type thing around my head helps a little, but generally i too havent found energy work to be too effective for headaches, yet anyway.

[CFTraveler]

About the only thing that I've tried and works for me sometimes is either soaking my feet in hot water or getting a foot massage. Other than ibuprofen when nothing else works (I don't like taking anything).

[Caelrie]

Giving up caffeine and/or nutrasweet will do wonders for your headaches if you're using either of those two.

[ButterflyWoman]

I gave up the aspartame (phenylalanine) years ago. I never have it at all. I do have caffeine, but it's very limited because of other stuff that can be triggered by it (acid reflux, anxiety, I even get heart palpitations if I have too much of it :shock:). And, believe it or not, caffeine is actually medically known to be helpful with pain relief for tension headache, particularly in conjunction with codeine and/or paracetemol (acetominophen).

I also do a lot of stress management stuff, just on a daily basis. Years of stress/anxiety disorder behind me, so I'm pretty on top of all that. It's just second nature to go through the relaxation and other visualisations now. ;)

So, I'm thinking that maybe energy work isn't that effective for headache, then? Or am I just not strong enough or doing it right? Maybe there are blockages or something? (I do have a lot of neck pain... Hmmm...)

[Beekeeper]

OW, you cannot go past hydrating yourself sufficiently. Dehydration causes so many complaints and it's nortorious for causing headache.

I highly recommend a monthly massage with a good therapist.

Take up yoga and you'll find those headaches lessen or disappear.

Get enough sleep but not too much. Don't spend too long reading or at a computer without getting up and moving. Get your eyes checked. Make sure you get plenty of fresh air. Watch out for perfumes and deodorants; you may have an allergy.

Take good care of you! :D

[Caelrie]

I second the hydration comment. Dehydration is definitely known for causing both tension headaches and migraines.

[Korpo]

OlderWiser,

I suffered a lot from scalp tension and now even sometimes do. Dehydration surely is not it - I do drink a lot of water, juice, etc. on a regular day, and did for a long time. This cannot be the solution,

What however helped is my energy work - at first it was a big pain, because I was doing it forceful and overdid it, but removing tension blockage by blockage has removed or lessened almost all of my headaches. Scalp, temples, nose/eye bridge, neck, neck vertebrae, cheeks and eyes - points located there have proven over years to be the origin of such headaches.

When you're already suffering from such a headache, you can also use the dissolving practices I use - trying to focus on what is hurting you anyway, if you can, can alleviate the headache a bit, but be very careful - I don't know the strength of your headaches, your tolerance for pain (should be higher in women, but I have a good one for chronic pain) and so on, so do it gently.

IMO if it is tension, it is invariably a blockage. Can't say the same for migraine - IIRC the reasons for that and the sensations are entirely different from a tension headache. I also once traced a bad headache back to a blocked jaw joint (TMJ) in another person, and could alleviate various associated pains by working this point and tracing all the lines that were blocked to other points. These kind of pains in major energy points like the jaw joint tend to radiate out over the lines to other points.

So, in the long run doing something like my dissolving or other blockage-centric work (Robert wrote a good deal of excellent info about blockages in "Energy Work") on the "usual suspects" (the points that flare up during one of your headaches) should actually be able to cure you over time, at least it did for me.

Take good care,
Oliver

[ButterflyWoman]

I second the hydration comment. Dehydration is definitely known for causing both tension headaches and migraines.

Yup. Well aware. I've always got a big cup of water on my desk. I'm a hydration fantatic. ;)



What however helped is my energy work - at first it was a big pain, because I was doing it forceful and overdid it, but removing tension blockage by blockage has removed or lessened almost all of my headaches. Scalp, temples, nose/eye bridge, neck, neck vertebrae, cheeks and eyes - points located there have proven over years to be the origin of such headaches.

Excellent. This is what I was hoping to hear.



When you're already suffering from such a headache, you can also use the dissolving practices I use - trying to focus on what is hurting you anyway, if you can, can alleviate the headache a bit, but be very careful - I don't know the strength of your headaches, your tolerance for pain (should be higher in women, but I have a good one for chronic pain) and so on, so do it gently.

Sounds like a good thing to try. And my tolerance for pain is unfortunately VERY high. I say "unfortunately" because I tolerate a lot more than I ought to, and I'm so good at coping that I'm now having to consciously learn how to let go and release it.



IMO if it is tension, it is invariably a blockage. Can't say the same for migraine - IIRC the reasons for that and the sensations are entirely different from a tension headache.

Yeah, my husband has migraine headaches. They're not the same at all.



So, in the long run doing something like my dissolving or other blockage-centric work (Robert wrote a good deal of excellent info about blockages in "Energy Work") on the "usual suspects" (the points that flare up during one of your headaches) should actually be able to cure you over time, at least it did for me.

I have a copy of Energy Work around somewhere. I haven't read it yet because I got it with a bunch of other stuff and I just started on others first. I need to find that book, I think...

Well, this is very helpful, Oliver. I'm going to work on very deliberately loosening and dissolving blockages. Cool. Thank you very much. :)

[Korpo]

Cross-post. ;)

Oliver

[Beekeeper]

BTW, studies have found men have a higher pain threshhold than women.

[CFTraveler]

BTW, studies have found men have a higher pain threshhold than women. I have to disagree with those studies. They don't get cramps or give birth.

[ButterflyWoman]

BTW, studies have found men have a higher pain threshhold than women.

So why do they whinge about little aches and pains so much, hmmm? :twisted:

[Tom]

Somatics is good for chronic pain, too. I attended a class a few months ago and found it helpful in ways that were surprising (that it actually worked at all, really). It is about retraining the way you perceive parts of your body so you can catch these things earlier by knowing that you are beginning to tense up.

[Pneumaphor]

OlderWiser,

This may smack of rationality but I can vouch for ocillating massage wands. They are not vibrators because they don't go back and forth, they go round and round. I can't do Yoga in the car so I have a power converter in my car so I can use mine on the go (delivery service)! I can't say enough about how great these things are as long as they're ocillating and not rechargables. Trust me, if you get one, you'll want one you can plug in. I recommend the one I have, called the "Hitachi Magic Wand."

I wonder what you're natural eye color is. I wonder because recent research has found that brown-eyed people are prone to hypertension compared to lighter-eyed people. Being brown eyed, I counteract my tensive tendencies with Yoga (which if I remember may be only a limited option for you), the 'magic wand', energy work and other things.

Until you can procure a Hitachi Magic Wand, if possible, I would offer this suggestion to try: Store energy in your sub-navel storage center coming solely from your hands only for five minutes. Then try the same with the other two storage centers only using the energy that comes solely from the hands. I have found a palpable difference in the soothing quality of energy that is generated with the hands as opposed to the rougher kind that comes from the feet. When I do this with the sub-navel, I instantaneously breathe exponentially easier! I'd love to know what happens if it pleases you to try this and don't mind reporting your experiences.

[ButterflyWoman]

This may smack of rationality but I can vouch for ocillating massage wands.

Rational is good. I like to use a combination of things. I'll look into this one for sure.



I wonder what you're natural eye color is.

The rainbow is natural! ;)

Seriously, my eyes are pretty much brown, but sometimes they appear mossy green. I usually call them hazel because it sounds more picturesque than brown.


I wonder because recent research has found that brown-eyed people are prone to hypertension compared to lighter-eyed people.

Wow, that is interesting!


Store energy in your sub-navel storage center coming solely from your hands only for five minutes. Then try the same with the other two storage centers only using the energy that comes solely from the hands. I have found a palpable difference in the soothing quality of energy that is generated with the hands as opposed to the rougher kind that comes from the feet. When I do this with the sub-navel, I instantaneously breathe exponentially easier! I'd love to know what happens if it pleases you to try this and don't mind reporting your experiences.

That's interesting. I do tend to concentrate on my feet for energy. I'll have to work on the hands.

For the past couple of days I've been energetically massaging my jaw and temples to see if I can find any blockages. It seems that there are. Getting rid of them is going to be interesting... ;)

Thanks, will report back.

[Serenity]

I don't know if this will work for your headache, but it works for most of mine:

In the space between your thumb and forefinger you have the inside of the “L” your hand can make. Using your thumb and forefinger of your opposite hand (you’ll do this on one hand and then the other) press in that area, right by where the bones “meet”. (But not on them.) Depending on the severity of your headache, doing this might hurt a lot, but keep massaging that area on one hand, and then do it on the other. It should help.

BTW - Drinking juice is not the best way to judge keeping you hydrated. It's full of sugar, even if you have "no added sugar" juice.

[ButterflyWoman]

I know about the juice. I rarely drink it. I occasionally have tea, which isn't particularly hydrating, but I drink lots of water. I've got a litre (quart) sized water cup on my desk right now, in fact. :)

Thanks for the thoughts on the massage. I'll give that a try, too. Still doing the energy work on the neck/jaw. It seems that there's definitely impeded energy flow. When the blockages finally go, I'm wondering if I'll shoot energy out of my scalp like a fountain.... :lol:

[Serenity]

Sometimes the simplest answer is best. :)

I drink a lot of water too, but I still have a history of going into the hospital for re hydration. Not fun stuff and the cause of a lot of headaches. :)

Something else to consider - When I'm concentrating, I clench my jaw and/or grit my teeth without realizing it. Try to pay extra attention when you're stressed and/or concentrating hard.

[ButterflyWoman]

When I'm concentrating, I clench my jaw and/or grit my teeth without realizing it. Try to pay extra attention when you're stressed and/or concentrating hard.

Oh, I know. I'm constantly working on unclenching my jaw. I even have a recorded affirmation that states that my jaw is slack and relaxed. It does work, when I actually play the affirmations regularly.

[ButterflyWoman]

Just an update on this.

I've been working on some areas that feel like blockages, particularly my left jaw joint. I've just been very gently "massaging" the area with energy. I'm not sure if the blockage is gone yet, but it seems to be slowly lessening. I don't want to rush it at all, so I'm just taking my time, slowly dissolving it.

And, I'm surprised to say, my headaches have decreased since I started doing this! I did wake with one today, and I was so surprised by it that I realised I hadn't been doing the energy work on the jaw (and neck, too), so I think it's related.

Still looking for that oscillating massager at a good price, too. ;) Also doing my best to keep hydrated (I do that, anyway, but it's getting hot so I'm taking extra care with it), and other good suggestions from this thread.

I do think the energy work is doing good, though. :)

[Pilar]

OW, I read elsewhere in one of your posts that you had a spontaneous kundalini rising in the past. This happened to me also and I have been training in qigong since to help with that. I've also suffered from many headaches (tension and migraine) and watched my mother go through this also. It is a common symptom of changing energy in the circuitry, and transformation on that level. In TCM (traditional chinese medicine), the common diagnosis for what you're describing is that you have blockages in your lower centers that are preventing the energy from sinking back down your channels. I don't know your situation, but a common experience I have seen in my personal research is that if a person suffers a severe trauma, they cope by drawing their spirit up to their head (and even out beyond in, in the case of viewing from 'out of body'). When that occurs, the lower gates of the body's energy system close behind them. Healing from this requires gently reopening the gates from the top back down, releasing the emotional content and bringing the consciousness back down to reside again in the lower centers.

I don't know if that is helpful to you, but I'm happy to give you more information on it if you'd like. You can pm me - I'm currently doing this work myself.

Blessings.

[ButterflyWoman]

Thanks, Pilar. Interestingly, a couple nights ago, I did have a very odd sensation in my solar plexus area, a sort of strong pressure. It was almost painful, but not quite... I had the very distinct idea that it was some sort of healing going on. Then, after a few minutes, it moved up to my chest (heart area). Same sensation, strong pressure, almost pain, but not quite. I wasn't worried about it physically, and it did go away after a while. I think something was going on with regard to opening blockages there, or similar.

It's funny, I didn't think there were any blockages there, but it seems there were.... :)

[Korpo]

Pilar,

that's interesting. :)

I always feel the need to rebalance my energy system. When I open up something in my back, and continue to work there for some days I often feel the need to work on something on the front. Along the usual circulation lines, for example. I tend to always chose the strongest point that draws my attention, and as I start to clean them, other points become more prominent. It's circular in nature, I think, always maintaining some balance in the system.

Oliver

[ButterflyWoman]

I've been thinking for a while now that a lot of my aches and pains are related to the relative violence of my Kundalini experience. I mean, ultimately, that was necessary, but I didn't know what was happening and I wasn't entirely cooperative...

I think now is the time I need to really finish or fix the pathways that got damaged or that didn't fully get changed or... well, whatever. :)

I can almost raise Kundalini at will, but I haven't in a while. I think I'd better fix these blocks and other such things.

It WAS really nice to go days without a headache though. I'm going to keep at that one. ;)

[Martin]

I've also suffered from many headaches (tension and migraine) and watched my mother go through this also. It is a common symptom of changing energy in the circuitry, and transformation on that level.

I think this could be the explanation. I used to regularly(maybe once, twice a month) have severe migraines, where I was feeling sick all day and laying on the couch. My vision would narrow, and there was no escaping the pain.

It completely stopped since I started doing energy work! Actually, all pains (from injury or something else) decreased since starting with energy work. It's really beneficial.

[Pilar]

Is anyone here familiar with the MAP program - it's spoken about in a book by Michaelle Small Wright. She is a wiccan, I'd say (although I'm not sure if that's quite the right description for her). Her background was working with beings in other realms (mostly the devic) - she is mostly focused on gardening and working with elementals, etc. Although during the course of her work she became aware of a group of beings that make themselves accessible to us in order to assist us - she refers to them as the "White Brotherhood" or some folks call them the "Masters of the White Lodge" - whatever. They appear to be a collection of entities that act as guides and healers. Many angel-workers work with them. At any rate, the "Medical Assistance Program" is a way of contacting these guides and requesting direct medical attention to your energy body. I have been looking into this work lately for myself, in addition to my qigong practice. Acupuncture treatments have also been really helpful for a rebalancing of the etheric body.

OW- re: the kundalini awakening - for myself, I'd say that the rapid and sudden blow out of energy in my system revealed blockages and that's what caused it to be a painful experience. That is, it was a bit of a double-edged sword: on one hand, I was made aware of what and where the blockages are, on the other hand, the blockages created deviations which prevented me from having a positive experience. I guess we just do the clearing work and keep moving forward from here...

[ButterflyWoman]

Oh, I had a very fragmented and damaged ego, and when Kundalini rose (spontaneously), it completely shattered my ego. I also had masses of anger, shame, guilt, fear, and other nasty stuff to work through.

I ended up in the psych ward briefly, diagnosed with a disorder that supposedly is a lifelong problem that never goes away (except that mine did ;)). I didn't have a clue what was happening other than the vague notion that it was healing and transformation. I was, as noted, not very cooperative sometimes. It took literally years to work through the transformation, and then I had several very quiet years (spiritually speaking) and then it started up again (much, much less painfully, I'm very happy to say).

I'm just finishing the work that was begun prior to my rest period, and then I expect a big WHOOSH of spiritual energy that will... I dunno... push me forward or up or something. I don't know quite what I'm expecting. I am expecting a big fountain or wave or something, though. It'll probably fool me and be so gentle and quiet that it takes me by surprise and I just one day realise, "Hey, I'm here!" (Sort of like when I was learning to meditate, and I one day just realised, "Oh, hey, I'm doing it, I'm in an altered state..."). :D

[Pilar]

Oh, I had a very fragmented and damaged ego, and when Kundalini rose (spontaneously), it completely shattered my ego. I also had masses of anger, shame, guilt, fear, and other nasty stuff to work through.

Yes, I can relate to this. This is similar to what happened to me also. My ego was obliterated (which I had always thought was a good thing, as I had been a practicing Buddhist for 10 years and this was always a sought-after goal). What I realized was that the ego is the thing that enables us to function in this reality, and for a time, I was considerably 'dys-functional'. I spent some time in monastery and I think it has a lot of similarities to the psych ward. : )

Obviously, the awakening experience is different for different people, depending on our own soul's lessons, our karma, the conditioning given by our this-life family, but I actually haven't met anyone who had the kind of 'effortless, blissed-out' experience presented to us by religion. The people I know who've gone through this all had the same type of things to deal with you and I are describing - it's messy, because we're messy. Someday, I'd like to write a book on the real enlightenment experience, rather than the idealized one, and I think I'd call it 'death without dying', rather than enlightenment. Yes, it definitely is enlightening, in that you understand yourself and reality in a completely different way than you did before, but it is a painful process.

Do the plants, trees, and insects experience pain when they go through their transformations, I wonder? I bet it is difficult for everything. Let's face it - dying is scary, and painful, even though it's just a natural transition!

[iadnon]

OlderWiser,

I suffered a lot from scalp tension and now even sometimes do.

So do I, Korpo.

I think that's because of a bad postural habit, which tensions that zone.

Energy has helped me a lot releasing that tension.

[ButterflyWoman]

What I realized was that the ego is the thing that enables us to function in this reality, and for a time, I was considerably 'dys-functional'.

Yes, exactly. At the time, I don't think I really understood the significance of the ego, had never really given it much thought. But I learned that it wasn't the "true me" (couldn't be; it was shattered and I was still there) and I learned that you MUST have a functional ego or you won't survive the material plane.

Happily, my ego was slowly rebuilt, and I'm much more stable now. Quite functional, except for odd lingering bits that didn't quite get worked on, but I'm pretty good at picking them up and throwing them out. The ego, unfortunately, is always corrupt, no matter how careful you are. It's a bit like the Windows registry system, now that I think of it... ;)


Someday, I'd like to write a book on the real enlightenment experience, rather than the idealized one, and I think I'd call it 'death without dying', rather than enlightenment. Yes, it definitely is enlightening, in that you understand yourself and reality in a completely different way than you did before, but it is a painful process.

Yes, the art of dying to your self. Scary business. Very, very rewarding, ulitmately, but quite frightening.

For what it's worth, the Apostle Paul wrote at some length about dying to your self, that the "outer man" dies while the "inner man" thrives and grows. Very, very similar concepts (although most modern dogmatic organised Christianity doesn't know much about this, of course).


Do the plants, trees, and insects experience pain when they go through their transformations, I wonder?

That's an interesting question. I've wondered the same thing. I'm quite fascinated with caterpillars of all sorts and I've wondered if it's painful to turn into a butterfly (or moth).

[Pilar]

I thought that too (caterpillar --> moth). What an transformation - one minute you are in the dark, still, warm, wrapped tightly by the edges of all you've ever known as your reality, and then you push out into a massive expanse filled with things you've never seen and you go forward into it.

Sounds a bit like our birth process!

[ButterflyWoman]

Reviving and old thread, I want to step in and recommend this:

http://www.halorejuvenator.com/

It's basically just a circular band with weight evenly distributed around the top. You wear it, flex your neck a bit, and go about your business (you can do exercises with it, too, to strengthen your neck, which is supposed to help with the headaches).

I've had mine for about two weeks now and it's pretty cool. When I first started using it, my neck would crack and pop when I turned my head or rolled my neck (just like that breakfast cereal :shock:), and that still happens a bit, but there's been a lot of improvement in my neck and head in just a couple of weeks. Usually, putting on the headband when I first feel a headache coming on will nip it right in the bud. I've noticed a definite decrease in pain and in the frequency of pain related to headache since I've been using this.

I got good results with chronic shoulder pain by using a simple set of hand weights a couple times a day (just stretching and a bit of light lifting, nothing major), so it makes sense that I'm getting results from weight exercises for my neck and head.

A note for people outside the U.S.: I had to get a friend in the States to buy one of these and send it to me. None of the outlets I found for it would ship overseas. The actual manufacturer never even bothered to reply when I asked if overseas shipping was a possibility. So it could be tricky to get one. I will say that I believe it's worth it, though, if you suffer from tension headaches or neck pain. I'm definitely sold on this very simple but extremely effective device.