| Headaches: Chronic Pain in the Office | | | | If you are suffering from this kind of pain, you |
| | | | probably already know what your regular doctor |
| Do you spend long periods of time sitting? | | | | will prescribe--muscle relaxers, anti-inflammatories, |
| Perhaps sitting at a desk? Perhaps sitting at a | | | | pain killers and rest. You also know that these |
| desk working on a computer? | | | | fixes do not last. |
| If so, you probably suffer from recurring head | | | | But do you know why? |
| and neck pain. The reason is simple. Your body is | | | | The reason is that the doctor is treating the |
| rebelling against the day-to-day strains of sitting | | | | symptoms but not the source of the pain. The |
| for long periods of time motionless, save for ten | | | | muscle relaxers will stop your neck muscles from |
| fingers clicking away at keyboards. | | | | spasming and the anti-inflammatory will reduce the |
| It always amazes me to know that sitting | | | | swelling that cramps those nerve endings and |
| motionless can be far worse for a body than the | | | | causes the intense throbbing in your head. The |
| most strenuous activity. | | | | pain killers will dull the pain in your muscles, and so |
| The reason? | | | | on. But the awkward bend of your neck and the |
| Our bodies were made for motion. Knees bend, | | | | clenched shoulders will still be there. And so will the |
| backs flex, arms reach and heads turn. But when | | | | knots and jammed vertebrae. |
| you sit immobile for hours at a time, perhaps with | | | | How do you treat the source of the problem? |
| your head craned slightly forward and your | | | | Getting to the source of your pain is the one of |
| shoulders clenched toward your ears, the strain | | | | the goals of Structural Integration. During sessions, |
| creates muscle knots in your neck and small | | | | I will slowly, methodically unwrap the layers that |
| spasms in the surrounding muscles. | | | | are causing the pain. Using a 10-session approach, |
| But that's not all. Overtime, those knots may | | | | I will work to relieve the immediate pain, then will |
| make you clench to one side to relieve the | | | | move deeper into the layers of muscle and fascia |
| tension, which jams one vertebra into another. | | | | (the network of soft tissue that connects AND |
| And a chain reaction ensues. The knots, the | | | | protects muscles, tendons and ligaments and binds |
| tension and jammed vertebrae twist, stretch and | | | | them to bone) and finally to the dura mater |
| irritate the protective sheath (called the dura | | | | where we can re-adjust the neck itself and to |
| mater) that surrounds the spinal chord and brain | | | | take pressure off compressed vertebrae. Finally, I |
| stem. This dura mater, which is made up of | | | | will move down the body to help the WHOLE |
| strong, protective fibers and hundreds of nerve | | | | body readjust to the new, natural position of head |
| endings, sends out pain signals to warn you that | | | | and neck. The work will be complete when you |
| whatever you are doing is not good for your | | | | are pain free, and you and your body are fully |
| all-important spine and brain stem. What YOU feel | | | | aligned-head to toe. |
| is intense, ongoing PAIN in your neck and head. | | | | |