’m naturally quite a headachy person and so is Mr Smaggle. In fact Mr Smaggle is basically a walking headache and I’m not far behind him. I’ve spent lots of time at the doctor trying to figure it out but doctors can be a bit slack. If you go in with headaches, they do a few a tests and as long as you don’t have some kind of terminal illness they stop caring and they’re like ‘You’re not dying so thanks bye!’ and I’m left there being all ‘Yeah but I still have my headaches…’. and they’re basically pushing me out the door and telling me I don’t have a brain tumour so I’m fine. Super unhelpful.
So I’ve been doing some research on headaches in the last few years and I’ve discovered that most of them are caused by muscle tension, particularly in your neck and shoulders. Which is why when you’ve slept all twisty like a pretzel, you’ll wake up in the morning feeling like a bear did a giant poo on your brain. Most headaches are caused by neck and shoulder tension so that’s what you need to try to fix. If your head is feeling a bit thumpy, here are 3 ways to ditch a persistent headache. NOTE: If you’re hungover, none of these will work. Get yourself a banana and some Gatorade. Stat.
1. Book yourself in for a sports massage
It has to be a proper sports massage because sports therapists know what they’re doing and know how to not do further damage. They can gently work out the kinks in your neck that’s causing your headache and the can also figure out what other areas are being affected by your rogue muscles. I once had a sports massage therapist massage the back of my arm for 20 minutes and it not only fixed my headache it also reduced some lower back pain that I was experiencing. Tip: if you have a massage school in your city they often have trainee sports therapists that need people to practice on so you can often get half priced massages. Bargain.
2. Make sure you’re sitting correctly
I often write from my couch at home (like I’m doing right now) and I sit sideways and write with my laptop resting on the arm of the couch. Very naughty. I have about a one hour window where I can do this before my head starts thumping. You need to sit up straight, with your back well supported and if you use a computer you need make sure that your arms are in the correct position with your chair at the right level. If you work in an office there should be an OH&S officer than can help with this otherwise here’s a handy guide. I can also highly recommend investing in a very fancy chair. Mr Smaggle and I both have Herman Millers – I got mine second hand for an absolute steal at $400. I know that some people will balk at $400 for a desk chair but it has made such a difference to my comfort while I’m working and has caused a major reduction in my end-of-the-day headaches from sitting in a stupid position all day. Best money I ever spent.
3. Get a backpack
Handbags are rubbish for your neck and shoulders and since I switched to a back pack last year, I feel so much better. Back packs don’t have to be daggy – I have this one from Cote et Ciel. It’s beautifully designed, non-offensive and I don’t look like too big a dork carrying it around. I cannot stress how terrible it is for your neck and shoulders to be carry around heavy stuff in a shoulder bag. It’s ALL about the backpack. Even weight distribution will totally minimise the strain on your neck and will decrease headaches caused by tension.
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Do you get headaches? How do you keep them under control?
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