Massage Therapy for Headaches, Migraines and Sinusitis

Validated by IPTI - 3 cpd points

Open to qualified Massage Therapists

Treating headaches and neck pain is the ‘bread and butter’ for many massage therapists. Almost everyone has suffered the pain of a headache.
The term “Headache” might sound simple; but it is like any other chronic ailment, which has to be controlled.

There are 147 recognised types of headache and each headache is not the same for everyone. The pain varies from mild to severe. It has several characteristics like mild, intermittent, throbbing, sharp and constant which can last from a few seconds or minutes to long hours and some headaches involve symptoms such as sensitivity to light and nausea. They can seriously impact daily life when they occur frequently or for an extended period of time.

Massage is one natural and highly effective alternative to allopathic medicine that can help relieve headaches while avoiding the side effects that often accompany prescription and over-the-counter headache medications.
Since the majority of headaches can be traced to muscle tension and muscular trigger points in the head, neck, and shoulders, massage and neuromuscular therapy are often able to provide complete relief. As many tension headaches and migraine headaches are accompanied by neck pain, headache sufferers find that manual therapies such as massage offer relief from headache pain and related symptoms. Because massage therapy relaxes tense muscles, relieves muscle spasms, improves blood flow and aids relaxation, it can be helpful for relieving the pain of both tension and vascular headaches. Myofascial tension and trigger points in the neck, scalp, face and/or jaw contribute to many of our clients` headaches. However, there are times when a headache is secondary to a serious condition that requires medical attention and management.

While massage therapy treatment of headaches often concentrates on upper body musculature, it is important to know as a client that postural issues affecting your legs, hips, pelvis, and back can create the muscular tension at the root of your headaches. Therefore, a full-body approach to treating your headaches and migraines is usually best.

During the masterclass we will cover the following:

• Review of the anatomy of the head and neck
• Understanding the difference between primary and secondary headaches
• Review of symptoms and causes for different types of primary headaches:
  Tension Headaches Cluster Headaches Migraines Facial Headaches
• Basic guidelines for treating headaches
• Palpation and visual evaluation
• Correct application of pressure
• Contra-indications to massage for headaches
• Review of Sinusitis – symptoms and causes
• Massage therapy techniques to treat sinusitis

This medical massage masterclass will help you have a better understanding of headaches, their symptoms, causes and how to treat them as well as techniques for use with sinusitis. It will enable you to offer effective treatments with confidence resulting great results for your clients.