Okay...am I nuts, here?

[trilliah]

Am I the only one in the world whose tension headaches actually get WORSE after a massage? I mean, they feel better during, but right after, they're almost always really bad for awhile. They go away eventually, but for awhile, it's nasty business.

Is that just me? Am I crazy here?

Comments

[magickalmolly]

Maybe it's the increased blood flow? Either way, that sucks. Poor thing... *kisses your forehead*

[gloryunderhill]

I used to get migraines. During one, I had a massage that was just a gentle face rub. It was relaxing and took the edge off the headache. However, when someone would rub my neck and shoulders, the headache would SPIKE in intensity after the massage to the point where I was pretty sure I'd die from it. My theory is the neck/shoulder rubs pressed on already-inflamed nerves causing more inflammation and more headache, while the gentle face massage just helped me relax without inflaming anything that was contributing to the headache.

So no, you're not crazy...at least not on this point. ;)

[blackbird_song]

I'm thinking along the same lines as Molly. I suspect that the initial impact might be to loosen up the blood vessels and increase blood flow, and that is a known headache cause.

And, erm, the same thing can happen to me, so no, you're not alone. *koff*

Catherine

[resqdog51]

Do you drink a lot of water before?

Sometimes that sort of thing gets worse because the massage knocks loose all sorts of 'poisons' that were lodged in your system (lymph nodes, muscle fibers, etc) and if you haven't got enough fluid to flush it, you can get a nasty headache from it.

I had a similar (not the same, but similar) problem after my car accident when I had to get massage to try to get my back back into alignment and everything working again... my MT started giving me bottles of water to drink BEFORE the massage... and it helped. (...of course, I had to loo OMG right after, heh, but, hey.... no pain!)

[triskalguilo]

I don't use my neck very much, and it seems to work pretty well. You can borrow it if you want.

[trilliah]

You're a dork. ^^