WAKING UP WITH A HEADACHE?

When patients tell me that they wake up with a headache, my immediate response is: “what’s your pillow situation?”

In my PT opinion, a proper pillow is just as important as a proper shoe fit. A flat pillow will encourage the flattening of the natural curve of the neck. A thick, high pillow will shorten the muscles at the front of the neck. Sleeping on your stomach shortens the muscles on the side of the head you are facing and elongates the opposite side making making for significant muscular imbalances.

The occipito-frontalis muscle runs from the occiput (the base of the back of the skull) to the front of the skull at the top of the eyebrow. See if you can find this muscle and make the connection yourself.

DO THIS:
1. Place your finger pads at the base of your skull…you will feel the big ridge or the two big bumps at the bottom of the skull.
2. Now, raise your eyebrows up and down (like you are surprised) and see if you can feel a tugging sensation at your finger tips at the back of the skull.

You have just felt the connection of this very long named muscle.

The neck and head take on stress postures and can create an unconscious tension to develop in this muscle that spans the top of the head and is often a muscle used in biofeedback treatments of anxiety and stress reduction.

So, find yourself a good pillow (I use a buckwheat hull pillow) and get to doing some self release work. Make sure you are hydrated and if the pain is too great or you feel tingling or burning pain, visual problems or vertigo/dizziness get to a neurologist!

Comment below if you were able to feel the muscle at the back of your head!