How is My Posture Related to My Headaches?

Our bodies are made to move and adapt to the environment and situations it is put into. Although we may strive to be active and healthy, our bodies are good at adopting poor postural habits we may not intend.

What is poor posture often derived from?

1. Prolonged sitting, desk work
2. Consistent smartphone use
3. Highly physical jobs like nursing, hairdressing, construction work, just to name a few. 

We are constantly putting our muscles into challenging situations in which they often adapt to and become our new “normal”.

As a massage therapist, I often see a few things involved with this adaptive posture. Clients typically present with:

1. Head forward posture,
2. Anterior (or forward) rotation of the shoulders,
3. Low back discomfort

These traits tend to impact a fair amount of musculature. For instance, low back pain may be attributed to a weak core and gluteal muscles, whereas head forward position marks the presence of weak neck muscles, and lastly, shoulder rotation causes tight pectoralis muscles and overstretched muscles in the midback and upper neck area.

Surprise! A side effect of head forward posture can be headaches. More specifically, cervicogenic headaches, tension headaches, and migraine headaches could be triggered by your bad posture.

Our bodies are pretty good at warning us when something is going wrong, and the pulling and tugging of those postural muscles are screaming “stop that!” by triggering headaches. The good news is, massage therapy is a fabulous way to not only relax those muscles that are unhappy, but also strengthen weak muscles. Let’s talk about how massage therapy and headaches work well together.