More and more burdensome factors influence us and our everyday life. The end result of stress, pressure and a busy schedule: headache! The question of what you can do about it is not easy to answer, because the pain therapy is individually different and needs to be tailored to the individual concerned. But one thing is clear: Relaxation not only helps to treat yourself with something good and a little bit of time out, but also helps to prevent or alleviate any headaches. Since tension in the muscles of the jaw, neck and shoulders is often the cause of tension headaches and migraines, one should be aware of these areas of the body when performing relaxation exercises and techniques. Doctors are convinced that the number of seizures and attacks can be reduced by up to 20 to 30 percent for both migraine and cluster or tension headaches.
Which forms of relaxation help with headaches?
- Progressive Muscle Relaxation
- massages
- autogenic training
- Bio-feedback therapy
5 effective relaxation exercises
Sit upright, let your shoulders hang and lean slightly against the backrest. The best way to draw attention to the shoulders, because you should now pull down and pull the shoulder blades slowly and gently to the spine. This creates a tension that should be released abruptly after 5-7 seconds. Bend your head slightly forward and place the fingers of both hands on the back of your head. The thumbs rest on the skull base bones next to the ears, the other 8 fingertips on the remaining head. The thumbs now press into the slight hollow, right next to the ears up against the bones. You can also keep your fingers crossed a bit. All in all, you should do this for 20-30 seconds, then lay down your hands for a short time and feel the massage effect. Then you put your hands on the neck, the middle three fingers should lie on the cervical spine like on a flute. Press finger by finger and gently massage the cervical spine for 30-40 seconds. Then put your fingers down and let the massage work. The two exercises are ideally repeated 4 times. Keep the upper body relaxed, but do not lean back. Now bend over the upper body and place the elbows slightly on the legs. Then make as round a back as possible, holding this tension for 5-8 seconds and solve this abruptly. Stand up slowly and repeat the exercise 3 times. Place the fingertips of the index and middle fingers on the temples. Now massage the temples in a circular motion, applying slight pressure. Important: One should massage the temples with constant pressure intensity for 5 minutes. Instead of the fingertips, it is also possible to use the palm of your hand. Then you cover the head so that thumb behind the ears and index and middle finger reach to the forehead and can set there the fingertips. Now massage the heads with your thumb, index and middle fingers for 3 minutes. The neck can be upright or bent forward. Tilt your head down and put the fingertips of both hands on the jaw joints. The middle finger is best located in the hollow below the cheekbone, the thumbs support the jaw from below. First let the shoulders sink deliberately down and then inhale slowly through the nose, while the fingers gently circling against the bones. Slowly breath through the mouth or nose and repeat 3-4 times. Then you lay down your hands, rattle lightly and loosely with your teeth, gently shake the lower jawbone and finally let it hang for a moment.