Tension Headaches

I have noticed a marked increase in the number of clients coming in lately complaining of tension headaches.

At their root, tension headaches are caused by muscle imbalances in the shoulder and back. The reason clients are noticing more headaches at this time of year is likely do to returning to work on a full time basis after summer vacations etc., as well as possibly working more hours to make up for more lax summer hours.

Long hours at a computer and in transit to and from work lead people to develop that rounded shouldered posture which is seen in many people today. This posture causes the pectoralis majors (the muscles located on the front of chest) to become shorter and tight while stretching the latisimus dorsi and lower/middle trapezeus muscles (muscles of the mid back) into longer positions. As these muscles become more and more out of alignment it puts more stress through your upper trapezeus and levator scapula muscles (located on the top of the shoulder). It is these muscles that refer the sensation of a headache into the head.

To help reduce the occurrence of your tension headaches, you will want to address the underlaying muscular imbalances i.e. too short pecs and too long lats & mid/low traps. The first step is to lengthen your pecs through consistent gentle/progressive stretching. This can be done with a simple doorway stretch:

• stand with your torso parallel to the doorway
• with one arm at a ninety degree angle to the body, rest the elbow/forearm on the door frame
• place the inside foot slightly forward (the same side as the arm in the door way) while keeping most of your body weight on the back foot
• with your shoulders and pelvis in the same plane and parallel to the door way, slowly transfer your weight to the front foot until you feel a gentle sensation in the front of the shoulder on the side you have secured by the door frame

The second step is to strengthen the lats and traps so they are able to pull your shoulders back to a neutral position. I find the seated row to be the best exercise for the lats and the reverse butterfly to be the best exercise for the mid traps, if you have questions about these exercises please ask me. There are many other exercises that will allow you to strengthen these muscles so you are sure to find something that works for you.

You might also want to take a look at your work station. Quite often people are working with computer monitors that are too low. This means they are constantly looking downward to read what is on the computer screen. The top of your computer monitor should be at eye level when you’re sitting up straight and have your head over your shoulders. Laptops are also a big contributor to poor posture. It is a good idea to buy an external monitor to set up at home if you use a lap top a lot.

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