Bruised my neck

I had a horrible headache today. Everyday this week I have woke up with the muscles in my neck hurting and the slight ebb of a headache at the base of my skull and side of my head that would intensify through the day.

Today was bad though because work was particularly exhausting because we had our heat index hit 100 today!! I kept grabbing the chunk of skin and muscle on the back of my neck all day, it offered a few seconds of relief, or distraction whichever one I'm not sure... lo and behold I am bruised. It vaguely looks like I have hickeys on the back of my neck if I must find humor in all of this.

I am in some weird cycle of headaches right now.

I want to eventually try and get a new mattress to see if it helps, as mine is completely shot. Buying a new mattress just isnt in the cards right now sadly, and I don't know I would be able to afford one. I think my hip/spine issue would greatly appreciate a new one along with my neck! Bargain hunting continues.

I have been going to a massage therapist who really manages to loosen up all those muscles that get frozen into a spasm in my neck. It has really helped me avoid many of the migraines.

Hey Babyseal,

Sorry to hear you've been having a rough time. In line with Migrainegirl's suggestion, have you thought about trying myofascial release? My physio has been doing this with me for a while now in an attempt to alleviate chronic back and neck pain associated with my various car accidents (none of which were my fault, BTW )

I have found that it has dramatically improved my mobility and has helped with the back and neck pain. Unfortunately, I haven't noticed any changes with respect to my migraines yet. I've just started visceral release, which is supposed to work in conjunction with the myofascial release. Maybe the two combined will impact the migraines? Fingers crossed.

I am also trying Myofascial Release Therapy (John Barnes type) and I have also found that I have greater mobility and has also has helped with neck and torso pain (due to a By-Pass surgery chest scar). Like Cookie Monster, the chronic headache is still with me, but I do have more good days (low level headaches).

The Myofrascial Release therapist and the acupuncturist are going to consult with each to figure out how both therapies can help me. With me, it seems that my headaches are all about tight muscles.

Cookie Monster, what is "visceral release?"

Martin

Hey there,

Visceral release / visceral manipulation is a treatment that focuses on the internal organs of the body. According to the handy dandy brochure I recently acquired, it is "a gentle manual therapy that aids your body's ability to release restrictions and unhealthy compensations that cause pain and dysfunction". The idea here is also that emotions are stored in the organs (as in Eastern medicine) and that visceral release can break the cycle of emotional/physical tension.

I have had two sessions so far with some fairly dramatic results. After the first session, I felt super relaxed, worry-free, and positive. However, I woke up the next day after an extremely emotional nightmare with a migraine and severe stomach cramps/bloating etc. By the afternoon, I was super depressed. It took me about five days before I started feeling my normal dysfunctional self again. Both the visceral therapist and the physio felt that my response was encouraging, despite the fact that I felt awful, because it meant that something had shifted.

My second appointment was yesterday and I went in with my daily low level migraine, feeling that awful heaviness, exhaustion, brain fog, nausea / yucky feeling. The therapist worked with me for about two hours and by the end of the session, the migraine was essentially gone. I still felt like I'd run a marathon but it was more a normal kind of tired than the moving-through-mud kind of tired that I usually feel. And I could think straight again. By the evening, I was feeling good, quite normal in fact (or what used to be my normal). And no Maxalt needed. Yeay! I slept well and woke up migraine-free but around 10:00 a mild migraine started up again and it's still there.

Guess that was a long-winded answer. Hope it helps. I'm not sure how much potential my new therapy has but for me, it is worth a try.

I had the same problem 2 month ago, just like what my mother told me, I went to a therapist to remove the pain in my neck and head too. Several weeks the pain returns. I have no idea what is going on!