top of page

TENSION HEADACHE / OCCIPITAL HEADACHE RELEASE - WHAT WORKED FOR ME


I just want to share my experience about occipital headache (tension headache) I had for at least 20 years.

I tried many things and saw several healthcare professionals, nothing worked.

At the beginning, it was once to twice a month.

About 5 years ago, it went really bad: once to twice sometimes three times as week.


Symptoms:

. Tension always starts on the left side for me, sometimes bilateral, but mostly on the left side

. Tension starts at the back of the neck, mild first then increases during the day

. The tension spreads slowly to the entire back of the head, on the shoulder and the jaw

. Any head movement makes it worst. Increased sensitivity to smell, light and noise

. Fatigue


Releasing factors:

. Ibuprofen 200 to 400mg up to twice a day and ideally lying for 30mn in the dark after taking ibuprofen


I remember this day where headache started before my personal training session with my client. It was really bad and of course it was the day where I didn’t have any ibuprofen with me.

This only thing I had in my bag was a ball that I use when I have to do some mobility work with clients.


Pain was so uncomfortable that I took the ball and start to roll on it.

The tension was at the base of the skull, where the neck meets the occipital bone.

It felt like a good massage but not effective enough to let my pain go away.

Then I though that the cause of the pain could be somewhere else.

I placed the ball along my upper traps. It was again a nice massage but nothing strong enough to release my tensions.

Then I went in between my shoulder blades, on the same side as my tensions.

I got a shooting pain in my head, and the more I was lying on the ball, the more my headache was increasing. I had a couple of movements to that (see video), it was excruciating, but after a couple of minutes, tension decreased.


My client arrived, she was 10 mn late, I wasn’t great to start her personal training session but wasn’t as bad as before and I was able to function.

20 minutes after, my tension headache was completely gone.


It was fascinating, years of pain suddenly gone.

I repeated this routine a few times for a month.

Headache decreased from 2-3/week to 1/week during the first 3 weeks.

After that, it decreased again to 1/month, then disappeared completely for a 3-4 months.


It’s been 5 years now and I am mostly pain free. I really can’t recall when was the last one.


Since I study osteopathy, I know there is no magic recipe to cure a pathology. The causes of tension headaches can result from neck injury, accumulation of tensions, musculoskeletal dysfunction... So I want to stay humble in this post, and I am just sharing what was my experience and what worked for me. I hope it will help some of you.


Kathy Babolat

Rehab & Strength Personal Trainer London



GLUTEUS, LEGS & CORE TRAINING - 45MN WORKOUT - #StayHome Workout 39
02:59

GLUTEUS, LEGS & CORE TRAINING - 45MN WORKOUT - #StayHome Workout 39

Hi everyone! Here is your workout for today. GLUTEUS, LEGS & CORE WORKOUT. Let me explain where the pain will come from today and why: We are working on: ⭐️ The gluteus and the hamstrings (anatomically speaking, they love to work together). ⭐️ Eccentric load for both gluteus and hamis. Aim for end range all the time and work slowly. I put a tempo so you can pace yourself. I am a strong believer that we have to work a muscle into its entire range of motion to get the best results. ⭐️ For the lunges I leave it up to you. If you want to work more on your butt, lean forward, if you want to work on your quad, keep your posture straight (you might feel it in the butt still due to the activation we did before). ⭐️ Lots of single leg work to challenge your strength both side as well as some hip stability. ⭐️ Core are mostly targeting the transverse abdominals. So no six packs today (sorry) but a good deep abdominal work instead. Careful with your lower back on the second one. The quadratus lumborum (lower back muscle) will kick in when abs get tired. ***You will need a chair & a towel for the hamstrings. Everything is scaled from beginners to gym freak. You need about 45mn to complete it. *** Enjoy! Kathy Babolat Rehab & Strength Trainer London Online Coaching www.thesteelfactory.net #stayhome, #FightCOVID19, #gymfreak💪 , #homeworkouts_4u , #Noequipment, #health, #fitness, #fitnessaddict, #getfit, #workout, #train, #training, #heathy, #strong, #exercise, #sport, #fitnessjourney, #StayStrong, #Wellness, #workouttime💪, #personaltrainerLondon, #kathybabolat, #fullbodyworkout, #absworkout, #strengthworkout, #coreworkout, #Legsworkout,
bottom of page