How to Relieve Neck Tension Headaches Without Medication

I have been having excruciatingly painful headaches lately. These headaches started behind my eyes and in the sinuses above my eyes, but quickly moved to the back of my neck, right at the base of my spine. I had no symptoms of cluster or migraine involvement, because these were not one-sided, did not throb and my eyes did not water. I went searching for answers.

Medication Side-Effect Headaches

I just started taking a new medication that had headaches as a side-effect. The headaches from the medication, however, occur daily and my headaches would come and go. Some days I was pain free, so I ruled out side-effects. If you have just started or switched a medication recently, research the side effects first, because it may be likely that the new or different medication is the cause.

Eye Strain Headaches

I have lupus, which makes me extremely sensitive to bright light. I’ve had one instance where the glare from the computer screen actually caused me to have a seizure, so I have to wear special computer glasses now to prevent this. Light sensitivity headaches usually subside quickly once the source of light is removed. I can lay in the dark and relax for awhile and they will go away, but these headaches did not subside when I turned the computer and lights off. Therefore, I ruled out light sensitivty headache.

Tension Headaches

When I was in my 20’s, I would get severe tension headaches. My doctor prescribed a 3-day treatment of a mild muscle relaxer. He said the headache was in my scalp, not inside my skull. The muscle relaxers always worked like a charm. Since I had no muscle relaxers handy this time, no insurance or money to see a doctor, I searched the internet for my symptoms in hopes of finding help.

The Gall Bladder Meridian

When I described the headaches to my roommate, she said that they were on the gall bladder meridian. In Eastern medicine, the gall bladder meridian runs up the back of your neck to 20 spots on your scalp, designated by the abbreviations GB 1 thru GB 20. You can find a chart here.Tension headaches behind and above your eyes and at the base of your skull are usually caused by tension in your neck. GB 20 is at the base of your skull, GB 1 is on the side of your eye and GB 14 is above your eye. In order to relieve the headache, you must relieve the tension in the neck.

Acupressure to Relieve Tension Headaches

I searched for my specific symptoms of pain behind my eyes and at the back of my neck and found an acupressure technique from a top contributor at Yahoo! Answers. The technique, according to Douglas B., is performed like this:

“Put your hands alongside your head so your thumbs are on the front of the muscle under your ear and your fingers are on the back of the muscle behind your neck. Squeeze your thumb and fingers together and hold. Relax your body. When your fingers and thumb touch, about one minute, slowly lower your head as far as you can, release the pressure but hold your neck lowered for another 30 seconds. If any pain remains repeat this.
For best results relax your body first by taking a deep breath and exhaling then remain this relaxed.”

I was ready to try anything, so I did the acupressure technique as directed. I had to repeat it three times to get the headache to subside completely, but it worked amazingly well. I’ll be using this technique in the future as soon as I feel one of these headaches coming on.

Who says you can’t find useful medical information online? Of course, you have to be careful what you believe online, but I knew ahead of time that acupressure was a viable alternative medical treatment, so in this case, an internet search really did save the day for me.

More by Deborah Aldridge:

8 Mistakes People Make with the Master Cleanse
How I Lowered my Cholesterol 40 Points with a Healthy Diet
Confessions of a Recovering Hoarder