One of the things I see a lot as a massage therapist is people who have various problems with their neck, head and jaws. Headaches, migraine, grinding teeth, sinus problems, neck pain, trigeminal neuralgia (which is nerve pain in the face), tooth ache, eye strain.
There's a lot to go wrong in the head, and a lot of it can be relieved by good massage and some postural advice. When you look at the way the head sits on top of the spine, you quickly realise that posture of the head is very important. The head should feel suspended, as if on a fine thread, upright, almost haughty :) Then look around at your friends and workmates. Notice how many people have their heads craned forwards all the time. It isn't surprising really, given our lifestyles. We crane forwards to look at our computer screens, we crane forwards to look at our televisions, we even crane forwards emotionally in the sense that we are always looking towards the future, towards something bigger and better, never satisfied with where we are. We cradle phones between our ear and shoulder, we tense up our necks and squinch our faces while we play video games......are you paying a bit more attention to your head yet? Thought so.
See, the head is fantastic - it really does control much of what you do and who you are - hormone release triggered in the brain keeps the body in homeostasis....on a physical level, you will walk towards what you look at, or drive towards what you look at. Your balance is controled inside your head as well, and it is the centre for 3 of your senses - hearing, taste and smell. Getting the head right is very important!
So imagine years of bad posture and how the muscles in the neck and face become distorted and lead you towards pain and it's no wonder we see so many of the symptoms above. Quite a few people I've seen have restorted to costly surgery to try and relieve some of the symptoms, but there are other things you can try - good massage or acupuncture can really help relax the neck and bring the head back into allignment. There are natural TMJ Treatments available, and any good Feldenkrais or Alexander technique teacher should be able to help maintain your posture long term so you reduce the likelyhood of getting and of the nasty aches and pains that can plague your head and neck.
So, use your head!
