Do You Have Stress-Related Headaches? Physical Therapy Has the Solutions

When you see someone at work or in a difficult situation clutching his head, you may assume either that he’s under extreme stress, or that he has a headache. In fact, you may be right on both counts. Both physical and emotional stress can cause tension headaches; they can also trigger cervicogenic and migraine headaches, any of which can leave you effectively disabled.

You may struggle with chronic or recurring headache pain yourself — in which case, you’re probably tired of taking pain relievers all the time. Maybe it’s time you found a better answer by consulting our physical therapist. Physical therapy can ease your headache symptoms by treating their underlying causes, giving you a safer, more sustainable headache management strategy.

The Relationship Between Stress and Headaches

Emotional stress and physical stress are closely linked, with either capable of causing or aggravating the other. Perceived crises can cause muscles to tighten up as the body goes into “fight or flight” mode. When that tightness affects small muscles at the base of the skull, such as the RCPM muscle in the neck, those muscles may pull on a pain-sensitive membrane in the head called the dura mater. The dura mater responds by sending out waves of pain, giving you a classic tension headache.

Cervicogenic headaches also originate in the neck. These headaches are often caused by alignment problems or imbalances in the cervical spine. These imbalances place the neck muscles under physical stress, producing both headaches and neck pain. Emotional stress can also play a role in cervicogenic headaches, since the muscle tightness they create can help to pull the neck out of alignment.

Last but certainly not least, migraines are the most dreaded of headaches. In fact, a migraine attack may go far beyond the crushing headache it is notorious for producing, causing symptoms such as:

  • Nausea and vomiting
  • Faintness
  • Sound and/or light sensitivity
  • Visual distortions known as “auras”

While it’s hard to pin down the underlying causes behind migraines, many of triggers are well known — and they include stress. In addition to various foods, bright lights, loud sounds, weather changes and hormonal swings, migraines can be set off by physical overexertion or emotional strain.

How Physical Therapy Can Help

Pain relieving drugs such as NSAIDs can relieve the occasional headache, but they can’t address the stresses that lead to chronic headache problems. For that level of relief, turn to physical therapy. Our physical therapist will conduct a thorough evaluation that includes an examination of your neck and cervical spine, discussion of your symptoms, and analysis of lifestyle factors that may be sources of stress. This background allows us to create a headache management program largely rooted in the management of stress and its effects. This program may include:

  • Exercises to limber up your neck or strengthen your neck muscles
  • Massage therapy to relax a chronically tight neck
  • Dry needling to ease stress-induced tension and pain
  • Ergonomic adjustments such as changing your computer monitor height (to prevent constant neck droop)
  • Chiropractic adjustments to correct cervical spinal alignment
  • Suggestions for changing or sleep position or trying a different kind of pillow
  • Mindfulness exercises such as yoga to help you add more serenity to your daily life

Let Our Physical Therapist Address Your Headache Pain

Conquer your stress, and you may just conquer your chronic headaches as well. Get in touch with our physical therapist at Synergy Rehab and Wellness to learn more about this drug-free approach to headache relief!

Stretching: A Healthy Part of Any Physical Therapy Program

Can some simple physical motions dramatically improve your overall health, wellness, and quality of life? In the case of stretching, the answer is most definitely yes. Stretching exercises are a staple of physical therapy for just that reason. You might be surprised to discover just how many ways stretches can help you. Here are some prime reasons that our physical therapist might prescribe stretches to enhance your life.

Improving Your Pain-Free Mobility

It’s quite common for a physical therapist to prescribe various stretching exercises to individuals suffering from chronic pain conditions. Stretching takes on special importance when you’ve become less mobile due to issues such as osteoarthritis. The less you move your joints, the greater the likelihood that your muscles and connective tissues will lose some of their lengths. This change obviously limits your joint motion even further and leaves you in even more pain. Stretches naturally support physical therapy recommendations such as walking, heat therapy, or massage therapy in increasing blood flow to painful joints and widening your pain-free range of motion.

Chronic pain syndromes often involve tight muscles. Syndromes such as fibromyalgia and its cousin, myofascial pain syndrome, cause muscle knots that limit muscle motion and trigger referred pain to other parts of the body. Regular stretching can help you “untie those” painful knots.

Protecting Your Tissues

Are you accustomed to seeing athletes go through sets of stretching exercises before a competition or training session? They’re not just stretching for the fun of it — they’re trying to optimize their athletic performance while also protecting themselves against injury. Tissues that are tight, stiff, or generally unprepared for challenges may tear, resulting in a strain or sprain that puts a premature end to your participation.

Stretches provide a safe, gentle way to work out the kinks and get your tissues ready for action. As you become more limber, you reduce your risk of a soft tissue injury. You’ll find those tissues more capable and responsive as you work or play. Stretching after your activity is just as beneficial; it prevents your muscles from seizing up and getting stiff once they’re no longer being exerted.

Optimizing Your Wellness

Stretching provides numerous benefits to help your body keep itself healthier. One if the most important of these is stress relief. Everyday life throws lots of challenges at you, and the resulting stress can be held in your muscles. This leads to tightness, spasms, and chronic discomforts such as headaches and neck pain. Stress also floods your body with “fight or flight” hormones such as cortisone and adrenalin. These imbalances can suppress your immune function, making you more vulnerable to viruses and other diseases. Hypertension is yet another dangerous consequence of chronic stress.

Regular stretches help your body release all that pent-up stress. By relaxing and loosening your muscles, you can maintain better control over your blood pressure, avoid chronic muscle pain, and keep your immune system ready for anything.

Our Physical Therapist Can Help You Get Started

There are right ways and wrong ways to stretch. For one thing, different kinds of stretches offer different benefits. Your particular situation might call for active stretches (in which you move a body part with no assistance), passive stretches (in which the body part is held or supported), or both. Stretches can also hurt you if you perform them incorrectly. Our physical therapist can help you stretch safely and effectively — so contact Synergy Rehab and Wellness today!

6 Easy Ways to Improve Your Physical Health

Do you experience tired, sore, or achy muscles throughout the day? Are you recovering from an injury or surgical procedure? Do you have a condition that brings pain to your bones or joints? Whatever the case may be, a physical therapist can create a personalized treatment program for you, to help increase your energy and help you get back on track to enjoying your daily activities. Call Synergy Rehab and Wellness for information to see how physical therapy can help you achieve better overall health and greater physical fitness. The tips below are easy ways you can get moving and help increase your physical health!

1. Increase your flexibility.

Many physical therapy treatment programs are aimed at increasing your muscle and joint flexibility. Our physical therapist can help you work through a variety of stretching techniques, and he or she may also use heat therapy to loosen tight muscles and tendons. Our physical therapist may also suggest massage or breathing techniques to increase relaxation and flexibility.

2. Improve your balance. 

Balance typically decreases with age as bones start to become more brittle, and there are also health conditions that could affect your balance. Improving your balance can help you avoid trips and falls that could potentially lead to a serious injury. Additionally, it can improve your ability to engage in and enjoy more strenuous activities that you may not have been able to do in the past. A physical therapist can provide you with several different types of exercises to improve your balance, whether you’re standing, walking, or engaging in an exercise regimen.

3. Reduce injury.

Physical therapy helps you recover quickly from injuries, but what most people don’t know is that it can actually help in avoiding injury altogether. Your physical therapist can teach you several different exercises you can do at home and before you engage in physical activity in order to help prevent injury. If you’re recovering from a surgical procedure, your physical therapist can also help you learn to walk and move in new ways that will help you stay active while reducing the chance of falls and injury during your recovery. 

4. Try to avoid surgery.

With surgery, you always run the risk of blood clots, infection, and a lengthy recovery time. In many cases, physical therapy can correct a problem without the need for surgery at all. Sprains, strains, dislocations, tendonitis, bursitis, arthritis, and acute/chronic pain are just a few of the many ailments that a physical therapist can help you with. Physical therapy works in helping your body speed up its natural healing process, and while surgery is sometimes unavoidable, it’s almost always better to eliminate the need for an invasive procedure if the problem can be treated with physical therapy.

5. Recover quickly.

If you’ve already had surgery, or if you have suffered from an injury, a physical therapy program can be created to assist in your recovery. Our physical therapist will put together a rehabilitation program that specifically addresses your needs, focusing on helping you recover as quickly as possible. This may include strength and range of motion exercises, in addition to any specialized treatments that our physical therapist deems fit.

6. Stay active.

Even if you’re already in good health and involved in a variety of activities, physical therapy can still be beneficial to you. Our physical therapist can help you enhance your performance and give you advice on certain forms and techniques. If you are looking to get back into the activities you love, our physical therapist can help you achieve that. You will work together to create a treatment plan that will help you reach your goals, and he or she will assist you in increasing your strength, endurance, and flexibility.

Whether it’s preventative physical therapy, rehab, or therapy to improve your ability to walk and enjoy daily activities, a trained physical therapist can help you achieve your physical fitness goals. After your evaluation, our physical therapist will put together a treatment plan based on your needs, and he or she will encourage you during every step of your journey toward physical health. Contact Synergy Rehab and Wellness today to schedule a consultation and get started on your path toward a healthier and happier life!

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5 Reasons To Stretch That Will Benefit Your Overall Health

Stretching is an important part of physical therapy, and many physical therapists will include specific stretches into their sessions. There are many reasons to stretch; strength and endurance are both undeniably important. However, stretching is a crucial part of anyone’s exercise regimen, whether you are an athlete or someone coping with aches and pains. Stretching helps in increasing flexibility, which can alleviate pain and make other aspects of treatment easier – even strength and endurance!

What does stretching do?

Stretching has a lot of benefits that we don’t always think about. Some of these benefits include:

Improving range of motion.

Range of motion consists of how well your joints can move in all directions. This influences every movement you make! If you have a constricting condition, such as arthritis or an injury, your range of motion can be hindered. Whether it’s turning your head to see behind you while driving, or bending your knee freely while running, range of motion is crucial for both daily life and for fitness pursuits. Stretching can help reduce stiffness and increase flexibility, therefore improving your range of motion. 

Finding relief in unexpected places.

Sometimes we forget how interconnected our bodies are. It is obvious that if we experience back pain, we should stretch out our backs. However, sometimes stretching your legs during physical therapy can provide unexpected relief to your back, as well. In fact, your hamstrings, upper thighs, and hips can all play a big part in creating lower back pain relief. Likewise, improving your posture through stretching your torso can provide the kind of support you need to keep your spine from compressing, which helps you avoid shoulder and neck pain. Essentially, stretching different parts of your body can provide relief to places you may not have considered!

Enhancing performance.

This point is especially true for athletes. The more you condition your muscles, joints, and ligaments, the greater advantage you’ll have in your sport. For example, bodybuilders recover from their reps much quicker when they stretch as a cool-down. Golfers can achieve a longer reach by increasing their range of motion in their hips and shoulders. Swimmers can even out their strokes by perfecting their balance through stretching. If you are an athlete, stretching can play a crucial role in your performance.

Preventing injuries.

When muscles are tight or tense, the likelihood of injury increases. This occurs because that particular part of your body isn’t working at its peak performance, even though you might be. When you stretch, you’re loosening up your muscles, in addition to increasing range of motion and improving balance, which all factor into injury prevention. All of these factors can prevent you from making the types of moves that lead to injury, whether it’s coming down too hard on one foot, twisting your back further than you should, or taking a fall due to lack of balance.

Improving circulation.

Stretching can reduce stress, but that isn’t the only reason it’s good for your heart and your musculoskeletal system. In fact, stretching plays a key role in almost every aspect of your physical abilities. Tight muscles constrict available oxygen supply, essentially robbing themselves of the nutrients they need. Stretches help reverse the process. When you stretch frequently, you’ll also get the benefit of increased blood flow to your joints and throughout the body. 

We can help!

There are additional ways that stretching can help improve your quality of life, whether you find a sense of pride in being limber or relaxation in taking time to stretch out your body. When you’re ready to add stretches to your daily routine, consider getting started through physical therapy. Our physical therapists can talk you through which types of stretches may be best for you, whether it be static, dynamic, pre-activity, or post-activity. Contact Synergy Rehab & Wellness today to learn more reasons to stretch and help you create a stretching treatment plan, and how our services will benefit you!

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How to Make Your Stress-Related Headaches Disappear

Did you know that headaches are the third most common pain complaint throughout the world? They can impact your quality of life and make it difficult to function normally. Luckily, headache relief can be found through physical therapy. Your trained physical therapist will work with you to provide pain relief from headaches, in addition to any other aches and pains you may be suffering from. In this guide, we’ll outline the different types of headaches and the causes for them, in addition to explaining how physical therapy can help. 

Different types of headaches: 

Any type of pain that occurs within the head can be referred to as a “headache.” Most headaches will resolve on their own without medical intervention; however, severe or recurrent headaches that interfere with one’s quality of life should most certainly be evaluated further. The challenge lies in identifying which type of headache you’re experiencing and then devising a treatment plan accordingly. Physical therapists are adept at diagnosing different types of headaches and can develop pain relief strategies for stress-related headaches. 

There several different types of headaches that can be treated with physical therapy. These include, but are not limited to:

  • Stress (tension) 
  • Post-traumatic 
  • Migraine or sinus
  • Caffeine
  • Hormone 
  • Exertion
  • Cluster 
  • Rebound
  • Hypertension

What are stress-related/tension headaches?

Tension headaches are some of the most commonly treated headaches by a physical therapist. They occur when the neck and scalp muscle contract or become tense, and they can happen at any age. Stress-related headaches generally start at the back of the head and progress to the top of the head and eyes, sometimes accompanied by facial pain along the jaw and cheeks. This type of discomfort has been compared to having hair pulled or wearing a very tight hat. These types of headaches can occur as a result of:

  • Increased stress
  • Poor posture
  • Neck or jaw problems
  • Fatigue
  • Arthritis
  • Anxiety
  • Depression

How physical therapy helps:

At your initial visit, your physical therapist will conduct a thorough evaluation of your physical abilities, in addition to reviewing your health history. He or she will ask you a series of questions to determine the type of headache you’re experiencing. After your physical therapist determines what type of headache you’re dealing with you’ll work together to develop a treatment plan for meeting your physical health goals.

During your first visit, you can expect to undergo some of the following:

  • Inquiries about the location of the pain, in addition to any other symptoms you are experiencing. 
  • Questions regarding previous injuries to your neck, head, jaw and/or back.
  • Measurements regarding the range of motion of your shoulders, neck, and other relevant parts of the body.
  • Examination of your posture while engaged in different activities.
  • Tests of your muscle strength and sensation.
  • Manual therapy to ascertain the mobility of joints and muscles in your neck.

A physical therapist’s mission:

While the end goal of physical therapy is pain relief, there are some important steps along the way that our physical therapist will help you with, in order to decrease pain and improve function. These include, but are not limited to:

  • Posture improvement. Your posture throughout the day greatly impacts your likelihood for pain and stress-related headaches. Our physical therapist will teach you methods of improving your posture in order to function more comfortably in your daily life.
  • Strength improvement. You’ll learn exercises to help strengthen the muscles that control your neck and upper back, in order to improve posture and increase your ability to stand or sit comfortably for longer periods of time. 
  • Neck improvement. Using manual therapy, our physical therapist will stretch the muscles in the back of your neck to relieve pain and increase movement.

Different types of physical therapy treatments

Our physical therapist may suggest any combination of specialized treatment services, including but not limited to:

  • Heat or ice compressions
  • Soft tissue mobilization
  • Muscular releases
  • Muscle energy techniques
  • Body mobilization
  • Cervical traction
  • McKenzie-based therapies
  • Stretching
  • Strengthening

With all treatment plans, you can expect to receive education that will supplement your in-office experience.

Persistent and life-altering headaches may not go away without physical therapy. To experience long-lasting pain relief and improve your quality of life, contact our office today. Our staff at Synergy Rehab & Wellness at our Verona, VA, and Waynesboro, VA location would be happy to talk with you and discuss how we can help you achieve a pain-free life. 

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