I recently went to a birthday celebration.
It gave me the opportunity to observe how some people take care of themselves…or don’t.
The party was for a sixteen-year old boy. He has chronic headaches.
He has been treated by a neuromuscular massage therapist (not me,) which helped, but did not cure him. He is being treated by a headache pain clinic. The various treatments he receives (some of which are not very pleasant, involving shots in his head, and medicine with side effects) also help only temporarily.
Because I specialize in relieving head pain and correcting posture, I watched him “in motion.”
He has been told about the connection between posture and his headaches. Someone told me that when his mother would say, “Sit up straight,” he would respond, “You don’t.” (And she doesn’t, but that’s another story. And, she doesn’t have constant headaches, either.)
So, over the course of several hours I watched the birthday boy. He slouched, he leaned back in his chair with his head pressed forward, he stood with a forward head/casual posture.
The thing is, when we do those things, those of us who are prone to headaches or migraines will get a headache or migraine. And, he does!
Those types of movements aggravate the muscles at the base of our skull and the front and sides of our neck. When those muscles get aggravated, they react by tightening up. They develop trigger points. The trigger points “trigger” pain in our head.
Another thing I noticed was that he was drinking an artificially sweetened drink. Can’t be positive, but I’m pretty sure that the headache clinic would have told him that artificial sweetners cause headaches.
So I wonder: why isn’t he being proactive – taking an active role – in helping himself to get rid of his headaches? He already knows the reasons for his head pain.
Right now I am speculating that he doesn’t know how to keep his head and body in neutral positions. Perhaps his back muscles and the muscles in back of his neck are too weak to hold him upright in neutral positions. Or, perhaps he thinks it wouldn’t be cool to be straight. He is not a tall, lanky boy, so it’s not concern that he is “too tall.”
People who get headaches and migraines have no choice except to fix their posture. The best way to do that is to get a strong backside, from the base of your skull to the back of your thighs.
The second opportunity I had was to talk with a man who has been seeing various nutritionists and naturopaths. He is looking for advice and products to cure his various health issues, and is going to see a new doctor shortly.
He wants herbal remedies or supplements, or some type of magic, to cure his problems, a lot of which are caused by his diet. He wants a doctor to cure him.
He also wants to continue to eat cookies and goodies and big meals and two servings of birthday cake!
Hmmmph! I guess we can’t have our cake and eat it, too, after all.
But, we can take care of ourselves. We can seek out the knowledge that will help us. We can take action. We can change old habits that are not good for us.
Because you deserve to feel better.
