Looking for ways to relieve tension headaches? Well,
this is the video for you. Hey, everybody is Doctor Jo and
sleepy Kali. And today I'm going to show you stretches and
exercises to relieve tension headaches.
So let's get started. So before we get started, you're going to
need a towel for the last stretch, it doesn't have to be
like a long beach towel, it can be something like a kitchen
towels a little longer than just a dish towel, but maybe
something like a dish towel. And we'll use that at the end. So
one of my favorites for tension headaches to kind of get those
muscles relaxed is a chin tuck. So chin tucks for me are not
tucking down and in, but actually taking your chin and
tucking it back. So a lot of times, I like to just use my
finger as a target, I think it kind of helps you understand how
to move the head. So I just place my finger on my chin like
this, and then pull back into that chin tuck and then just
hold right there. So you can see my chin kind of stays level, I'm
not going up or down for this particular exercise, but just
going back and holding it and the fingers there, because a lot
of times if you just hold for about three to five seconds, it
doesn't have to be very long, then when you relax, there's a
little bit of space in between. And that's just because it's
resetting those neck muscles. So a lot of times the tension
headache back here where those muscles are have a lot of
tension, and they're really tight. Those chin tucks just
kind of help reset everything. So it's a nice kind of exercise
slash stretch. So I would just say do those maybe five to 10
times holding it three to five seconds. So the next exercises
are going to be isometric exercises. Again, for tension
headaches, a lot of times those muscles are really tight.
Isometric exercises do a great job of contracting those
muscles, but not making big movements that might be painful
or uncomfortable. And when you hold that contraction, but
you're not making a big movement, a lot of times it will
release that tension, especially in the neck area. So for the
isometric exercise, you're contracting the muscle, but
you're not moving. So with this one, this is the movement,
you're doing--a side bend this way, but you're not going to
move your head. You're just going to place either your
fingers on your temple, or maybe the palm of your hand on on your
the side of your head on your temple here. And so I'm doing
this, but my hand is going to stop. So I'm pushing gently into
my hand. So I'm not doing like 100% push where it's really you
know, I'm really trying my hardest, maybe just starting off
with like 30 to 40%, just pushing into the hand. So again,
this is the motion I'm doing. But I'm pushing in that 30 to
40%, maybe just five seconds or so holding it, and then
relaxing. I like alternating sides back and forth, then
holding it there, that three to five seconds, you can see some
of those muscles activating there. And then relaxing. A lot
of times that helps relieve that tension. So again, that three to
five second hold, maybe five to 10 of those. And then you're
going to do another isometric, which is rotation or the
cervical rotation. So now this is just the movement, you're
doing that rotation side to side. But again, you're using
your hand to stop that movement. So I'm just gently pushing my
head into my hand, so I'm not pushing my hand into my head,
I'm pushing my head into my hand, that 30 to 40%. And then
relaxing, sometimes you might get a little poppy feeling in
your neck, as long as it's not painful. That's okay, that's
just kind of that adjustment that you're feeling. And then
again, I like alternating sides, you don't have to, but I feel
like it just gives each side a little bit of a break. So again,
you know, five to 10 on each side, that three to five second
hold. So after you get that kind of loosened up a little bit,
then stretches will really helped kind of release that
tension as well. And one of my favorite stretches, if you've
seen some of my neck videos, or my headache videos is an upper
trap stretching. So that's that muscle up there it goes all the
way up into the neck down into the shoulders, holds a lot of
tension and can cause a lot of pain. So getting a gentle
stretch really kind of helps that out. You can do it a couple
of different ways. On the side, I'm going to stretch I'm just
sitting on my hand that just keeps that shoulder down. And so
you don't have to sit on it, but it really gets you a better
stretch if you can do it comfortably. Taking the other
hand, just bringing up overhead, fingers kind of touching my ear
on this side. And then I'm just gently pulling over this way
until I've kind of feel a stretch in that upper trap area.
So I'm I'm still keeping my head forward, I'm not turning down or
looking up. You can do those but those get a little bit slightly
different stretches. You want to hold this stretch for full 30
seconds. So really to get those muscles to relax, it needs to be
that 30 second stretch. Usually if it's really tight, about 20
to 25 seconds, a lot of times you can feel it started relaxing
and then you can gently pull it a little bit more. Again, I like
to alternate sides. If sitting on your hand is not very
comfortable. You can place it behind your back and do the
stretch. So again, I'm coming up and over touching my ear gently
pulling over and hope noting that stretch for 30 seconds. You
don't have to, again do either way with the other arm, you can
just place it down, I'm still getting a good stretch, but I'm
feeling a little bit better stretch. If I, you know, make
sure I'm keeping that shoulder down by keeping the arm behind
my back, or actually sitting on my hand, I definitely feel a
better stretch with that. So 30 seconds, three times on each
side, if you want to follow along with me in a real time
video, I have a whole lot of real time follow along videos,
you can click on that link up there for those. So then the
next one is going to be levator scapulae stretch. This is
another one of my favorites, the levator scapulae muscle is one
of those muscles when it gets tight and irritated, it can
cause a lot of tension and pain because it's the one that
elevates or lifts our scapula or shoulder blades. So if you're
holding a lot of tension, a lot of times you might kind of sit
like this, or you might be on the computer like this. And then
those muscles get really tight and irritated and can cause a
lot of tension and pain, and then cause those headaches in
there. So this one is the same kind of thing with the hand
placement, you can do it a couple different ways. I've
always learned if I'm stretching this side, I take this hand and
kind of almost like I'm trying to push that shoulder blade down
and bring that elbow up. I know this is a little tough for
people. So I'll show you a different way to do it. But this
is the way I've learned. Then you can take the other hand and
place it I kind of say like, almost like you're putting a
helmet on up and over. So now this is behind your head, not on
the side, but behind your head. And you're going to turn your
head about a 45 degree angle, almost like you're looking at
your opposite knee. And then just try and tuck your nose into
your armpit. So I'm just going down and in tucking this way.
And I'm feeling a nice stretch where that levator scapulae is
right there. And then again, holding that stretch for 30
seconds, relaxing, switching sides. So I know again, this
might be uncomfortable for people, especially if you have
some shoulder issues or some other neck issues. So you can
also do the same, you can place it behind your back or you can
just kind of hold it down to keep that shoulder blade down.
So you can go behind your back, hand up like a helmet, and then
just tucking that nose into the armpit about that 45 degree
angle. So I'm not completely over to the side, you know, I'm
kind of at that angle in there. And then holding that, again for
that 30 seconds, doing that three times on each side. So
grab your towel, if you got it like said a little bit longer,
it doesn't have to be super long. And so this is going to be
we call them snags, but it's really just a rotation with some
pressure to get each segment of the net kind of loosened up and
moving. And so this is a great way again, if you've got that
tension, sometimes if it's more in the spine, you know, just not
kind of where it's supposed to be maybe out of alignment. If
you want to argue you know, some some fluid bubbles in there that
you need worked out, this is a great way to do it. So I'm going
to take my opposite hand and grab it here. So I'm going to be
pulling down with this side. I'm going to take this side, so I'm
kind of crossing my arms here, I'm bringing this towel up over
my ear area and my chin area is not down here, but up over my my
chin and my ear area. And so I'm pulling down with this side, and
I'm going to pull up and over with this. So I'm kind of
turning my head and then pulling this way. And so that's getting
a really great stretching my neck, this doesn't have to be a
full 30 second hold. If you can hold it that long. That's great.
Sometimes again, this is kind of hard because you're actually
pulling with your arms and your hands. But what that towel does
again is it keeps one segment of the spine kind of in place. And
it helps rotate so it's not just rotating, the whole neck is kind
of rotating at each segment. So then you can kind of you know,
go a little bit higher with the towel on your neck. You can go a
little bit lower with the towel on your neck, but again, then
you're grabbing opposite side hold or stabilize the towel
there. And then coming up and over kind of over that ear and
that chin area. I'm pulling down with this one up and over with
that one. I'm getting a great stretch here. I got a small
little pop. I don't know if you heard it, maybe not it was
really, really small. But that gives you a nice, great stretch
to get rid of that tension. So there you have it. Those are
ways to relieve tension headaches. If you'd like check
out some of my other videos, click on the link up there. And
don't forget to subscribe by clicking down there. And
remember, be safe, have fun, and I hope you feel better soon.