Banish Stress Headaches

Ahhh, the tension headache. We instinctively bring our fingertips to our temples in an effort to ease away the pain. And it works, if only for a minute. For longer-lasting relief we found this simple and effective massage that goes beyond the temples.

Place the index and middle fingers of both hands in the middle of your forehead. Rub your forehead by making v-shapes out from the center.

Now raise your scalp and forehead by lifting your brows slightly with your fingertips. Hold that position while you massage your forehead in short, upward strokes towards your hairline. Release. Alternate v-shapes and stroking six times.

Move your fingers across your brow to your temples, pausing there to give your temples a gentle massage. This is an area where we hold stress and tension that can often lead to headaches.

Then move your fingers to the corners of your eyes and massage gently.

Move your fingers down to the hinge of your jaw muscles. Then move your fingers along your jawline, massaging firmly.

Move your fingers down to your collarbone. Then, turning your head to the right, massage both side of your neck with firm upward strokes. Turn your head to the left and repeat the massage on the left side of your neck.

Adapted from The Yoga Facelift by Marie-Veronique Nadeau (Conari Press, 2007).

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Donna H.

4:47PM PDT on Apr 21, 2012

Thanks for the info.

send a green star

Jennifer C.

6:36AM PDT on Apr 19, 2012

A good post. Thanks.

Sue M.

1:04PM PST on Feb 22, 2012

thanks.

Teresa W.

2:27AM PDT on Mar 19, 2011

thank you

Melissah C.

10:04PM PDT on Nov 4, 2010

thanks

Janice P.

4:57PM PDT on May 23, 2010

When I went to my hairdresser last week, I had the worst tension headache that I have had for a while. While he was shampooing my hair, he massaged my scalp, but paid particular attention to the nape of my neck and the areas just between my the tops of my ears, and my temples. Just like magic, that TERRIBLE headache was gone within 3 or 4 minutes. He told me it is all about causing the muscles in the scull to relax, which affects blood flow and causes cessation of the headache. That man has magic fingers.

On the way home, I stopped at the store, and I bought a massager. The next time I got a tension headache, I tried using it on the same ares he had concentrated on during my shampoo. Although the results were not as quick or dramatic, it did work, and my headache lightened up considerably. (It also helped a lot to use it on my shoulders. I think all of those muscles work together in concert to create headaches.)

Nikola P.

4:31PM PDT on May 11, 2010

It helped! Really helped! Thank you

Sakura l.

12:49PM PST on Feb 12, 2010

stress is just like junk

Tekla D.

6:53AM PST on Feb 11, 2010

thank you!

Heather B.

8:35PM PST on Jan 24, 2010

Interesting post; thanks, Annie.