At Balance Osteopathy we often treat people for neck pain and headaches. There are lots of joints and muscles in the upper neck that can cause local discomfort and/or refer pain to other areas of the head and contribute to headache. Having release of these tight muscles and gentle mobilisation of the upper neck joints can relieve these symptoms.
In addition, there are some simple stretches and muscle release techniques you can try at home to help with this type of problem.
Taking the neck slowly through its available motions (blue below) is one simple exercise to begin with. Also try tense and relax exercises using your hands to create resistance for you to gently push against for 5 seconds in each direction. You can also lie on your back with knees bent with use of a foam roller, or perhaps you can try a tennis ball, to gently apply pressure on the neck muscles (by resting your head o it) for 20-30 seconds in each location to achieve some release of these tight muscles.
We can obviously give more specific treatment and exercises for these issues, but self management is a key part of dealing with neck pain and headaches too. If you are not getting relief, come in so we can help with diagnosis and treatment, or see you GP for further advice if you are concerned.
