Tired Neck Muscles May Be The Cause Of Those Frequent Headaches

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If you begin having frequent headaches at work or once you get home from your job, it may be the muscles in your neck that are the problem. Work that requires holding your head and neck in one position for long periods of time can cause inflammation of the neck muscles, which result in your headaches. A visit with your local chiropractor will get rid of the head and neck pain associated with the muscle stress. Here is what is happening in your neck to cause those headaches and how your chiropractor will help relieve your pain.

Exhausted Muscles are to Blame

This is a type of repetitive use injury in which the muscles in your neck become stressed due to being in one position for a long time without breaks. The muscle fibers become exhausted and begin to contract. Your neck will feel stiff as inflammation sets in. The inflammation decreases circulation in the neck muscles, further compounding the situation.

Many nerves leave the spine in the upper neck area and travel into your head. The inflamed neck muscles irritate those nerves, causing the frequent headaches you experience. The goal of a chiropractic treatment is to get the neck muscles to relax, increase the circulation and reduce inflammation. This will relieve the pressure on the nerves and stop your headaches.

Treatment of Stiff and Inflamed Neck Muscles

Your chiropractor may offer a variety of treatment approaches to relax those tense neck muscles. You may need a combination of these approaches to finally get relief from your headaches.

• Active Release Technique - The chiropractor feels your neck to find the tense muscles and slowly massages them along their normal length. This increases circulation in the area and coaxes the muscles fibers to relax. If your doctor feels scar tissue from damaged muscle fibers, they will break that up with the massage, allowing the muscle fibers to move freely.
• Myofascial Release Technique - When several muscle fibers contract in the same area, they can create a tight knot which becomes painful, disrupts the blood flow through the muscle and may develop muscle spasms. With this approach, your doctor applies steady pressure to the muscle knot with their knuckles or a special tool. The external pressure on the muscles causes them to relax and the spasms to go away. As the knot relaxes, the circulation is restored and inflammation is reduced.
• Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) - This techniques uses a small electrical charge sent into the muscle to relax the fibers and the stress on the nerves. Electrodes are placed over the muscle groups and a pulsing electrical charge of varying frequencies is sent down into the muscles for several minutes. Your chiropractor may administer this in their office prior to doing one of the other muscle release techniques. There are also home units, which your doctor may teach you how to use to treat your own stressed muscles after work.
• Physical Therapy - Your chiropractor may also prescribe physical therapy sessions to increase the strength of your neck muscles so they can better withstand the stresses at your job. This may consist of the use of hot and cold packs on your neck, deep muscle massage and active strengthening exercises for the muscle in your neck.

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17 December 2015