Headaches/Migraines

Migraines are a specific kind of headache usually involving pain on one side of the head, sensitivity to light and sound, often accompanied by nausea.  Migraines have various causes including hormonal.   The pain of a migraine often involves the jaw on the effected side, or even down into the neck and shoulder blade.  It can therefore be helped with a manual jaw release and deep pressure point work done on the shoulder, back and neck.  Years ago I started working with people who had very tight necks.  To help with the tight neck I would do a jaw release and made sure they were on a highly effective calcium product.   These people would come back to me excited that not only was their neck pain better but their migraines were much better also.

Headaches that are not migraines, especially those that are in the temple region of the head, are often caused by a tight jaw.  The muscles that work the jaw are attached at the bottom and to the side of the cheekbone.  The opposing muscle is the temporalis muscle that is a large round muscle in the temple region that attaches above where the jaw muscle begins.  The tension from the jaw is transferred into the temple region causing headaches.  If you release the jaw muscle, you will eliminate the headache in most cases.
Headaches that begin in the back of the head at the base of the skull are often caused by tension in the neck muscles that attach there.  Massage techniques that involve pressure on the base of the skull as well as between the shoulder blades where these muscles begin are effective in relieving this kind of headache.
If you have frequent headaches you want to be sure that you are not calcium deficient.  The upper back, shoulders and neck are the areas most affected by this deficiency as the muscles have trouble relaxing without sufficient calcium and are prone to spasm with any additional stress.