Hello. This is Infotherapy, prescribing healthy information.
I am a manual therapist with 10 years of experience correcting the spines and body postures of countless patients in the field. When I examine patients' stiff necks in the consultation room, Nine out of ten make such a plea with a very desperate expression. “Teacher, I always have severe tension in the back of my head and temples ache as if they are going to burst, so I practically live on Tylenol like I take vitamins. The medicine isn't working, I was so scared that I might have a brain tumor, so I went to a university hospital and even paid hundreds of thousands of won to get a brain MRI, but they said there was nothing wrong. The doctor just says it's stress-related, My eyes hurt so much every day, it feels like they're going to fall out. Why on earth is this happening?“
Especially when typing while staring intently at a monitor for a long time, For modern people who spend their entire commute with their heads bowed, glued to their smartphones, headaches are a terrible, inescapable guest. My eyes ache as if they're going to pop out, Countless people suffer from daily, heavy pain that feels like wearing a tight-fitting steel helmet, eventually leading to chronic misuse of painkillers that completely ruins their digestive systems.
However, as a manual therapist who touches patients' bones and muscles every day, I would like to clearly point out one bone-chilling truth. The cause of that dreadful pain that destroys and torments your daily life is, nine times out of ten, not in the 'head (brain)' itself. The real culprit is your broken attitude., In other words, it is the 'back of the neck muscles' that have hardened like a rock due to forward head posture.
Today, we will look at the chilling anatomical principles of 'false headaches (cervical headaches)' that absolutely do not go away even if you swallow several painkillers a day, and, Even without an expensive massager or a functional pillow, just a single towel lying around the house, Or, I will delve into the details and depth of a manual therapist's zero-cost home care secret that magically turns off the switch for persistent pain in just one minute using only an empty water bottle.
The cause of my headache isn't my head, but my 'neck'? (Principles of Cervical Headaches)
This persistent headache that we commonly experience in our daily lives is called a 'cervicogenic headache' in medical terminology. As the name suggests, it means that pain originating from problems with the neck (cervical) joints and muscles extends all the way to the top of the head. To fully understand the true nature of this unfair and painful fake headache, you need to know the role of the 'suboccipital muscles,' a very small and nasty muscle hidden deep just beneath the bone at the back of our head.
The average weight of our head for an adult is about 5 kg, It weighs about the same as a fairly heavy bowling ball. Every time this heavy head protrudes 1cm forward toward the monitor or smartphone (turtle neck posture), The load that the muscles at the back of our neck have to withstand increases exponentially. At this time, the occipital bone and number 1, The 'suboccipital muscles,' which are key core muscles connecting the second cervical vertebra, To keep my heavy head from suddenly dropping forward or to the floor, I become extremely tense all day long, like pressing the brakes on a car.
The biggest problem occurs right at this point. A very important nerve passes through the taut fibers of the suboccipital muscles, It is the 'Greater occipital nerve,' a thick nerve that starts deep in the back of the neck, travels up the back of the head and the crown, and extends all the way to the frontal temples and the orbits behind the eyes.
If the suboccipital muscles, which have had no time to rest due to a prolonged forward head posture, eventually succumb to fatigue and become shortened and knotted like stones, It tightly crushes the greater laryngeal nerve, which was barely passing through that narrow muscle gap, as if strangling it with a rope. My nerve is being severely compressed in my neck, Our brain fails to pinpoint the exact source of the pain and becomes confused, causing the sensation of "my temples are going to burst" at the front of the head, where the nerves finally end., “My eyeballs feel like they're going to pop out., “You end up mistakenly thinking that your whole head is throbbing. This is the true nature of unexplained headaches that show no abnormalities even on a brain MRI. So, no matter how many times you take Tylenol because your head hurts, Unless the muscle mass pressing on the nerve in the neck, which is the root cause, is physically released, it is like pouring water into a bottomless bucket for the rest of your life.
How to Differentiate 'Real Migraine' vs. 'Fake Headache (Cervical Headache)' in Just 1 Second
그In that case, is this headache plaguing me right now a genuine migraine caused by a cerebrovascular problem that requires a visit to a neurologist for a thorough examination and a prescription?, Alternatively, I will share an intuitive self-test method used by a manual therapist to distinguish in just one second at home whether it is a fake headache that would disappear completely just by loosening up your tight neck muscles.
first, This is a pain trigger point compression test.
Use your thumbs to locate the indentation (the boundary between the head and neck) where the hard bone at the back of the head (skull) ends downwards and the soft neck bones and muscles begin. Gently press that area with your thumb, Press deeply for 10 seconds, until it feels very stiff and brings tears to your eyes. The moment I pressed it, “Ack!””It hurt enough to make a sound, yet felt strangely refreshing, as if a blocked blood vessel was being cleared, If your blurry vision becomes clear, or if the tingling pain you usually feel is reproduced exactly in your temples whenever you press firmly, Your headache is a false headache caused by the greater occipital nerve being compressed due to neck muscle tension.
second, We will check the changes in pain according to neck movement.
When bending the neck deeply forward or tilting it far back, Or, if your usual headache worsens or you feel an unpleasant, sudden pulling sensation in the back of your head when you turn your head all the way to your left and right shoulders, This is also clear evidence of cervical headache caused by limitation of the cervical joints and muscle tension, rather than a problem with the head itself.
'0 Won Home Care' that turns off the switch‘
If the results of the towel and empty water bottle relaxation test confirm that the headache is a fake one caused by neck muscle tension, Please stop running to the pharmacy. Please try performing 'Suboccipital Muscle Relaxation' right now, a manual therapy technique that uses common tools lying around the house to effectively clear the blocked airways of your nerves. You do not need expensive low-frequency massagers or cervical pillows costing hundreds of thousands of won at all.
Method 1: Gentle relaxation using a rolled-up 'towel' (beginners, For those with severe neck pain
Spread an ordinary towel from the house on the floor, Roll it up very tightly and densely, like rolling gimbap, to form a thick cylindrical shape. You can obtain much firmer support by tightly tying both ends with a yellow rubber band or hair tie to prevent the towel from coming undone during use. Lie comfortably on the floor or a yoga mat, looking up at the ceiling. Since the effect is reduced on soft beds, I recommend a firm floor if possible. The tightly rolled towel just now in the hollow of the back of the neck, In other words, lie down comfortably with your head resting horizontally like a pillow on the boundary line just below where the back of the head bone ends.
Therapist's Top Tips: At this time, do not vigorously shake your neck from side to side and rub your bones together just because it feels refreshing. Since sensitive nerves pass through that area, a slight misstep could lead to nerve inflammation, potentially causing the pain to worsen the next day. The motion of very lightly nodding your chin toward your chest while holding a towel firmly., That is, slowly repeat the motion of nodding slightly, as if saying "yes" to someone's words, about 10 times. As the weight of my heavy head (5kg) naturally pressed down on the towel, That pressure alone causes the stiff suboccipital muscles to melt softly, just like ice cream.
Method 2: ‘Powerful ischemic compression using an 'empty water bottle'
Prepare an empty 500ml plastic water bottle commonly sold at convenience stores. Hard glass bottles or metal tumblers can cause bruising or injury to bones and joints, so they should absolutely not be used. A standard round plastic water bottle that maintains its shape while having a slight cushion is the perfect tool. While lying on your back looking at the ceiling, just as you would when using a towel, Lie down with an empty water bottle placed horizontally along the indented boundary just below the back of the skull.
Therapist's Top Tips: Raise both hands and lightly hold both ends of the round water bottle to secure it so it does not roll away from the back of your neck. In that position, close your eyes and shoulders and neck, Completely relax your entire body and stand still for exactly one minute. This process can be a little painful. As the rounded edge of the plastic bottle digs deep into the tightly knotted suboccipital muscles, it causes a dull and stinging pain (medically referred to as ischemic compression), After exactly about a minute, your rock-hard muscles will gradually relax, and you will experience a tremendous catharsis and refreshing sensation as the blood flow and nerve pathways leading to the brain open up wide.
In fact, even in the clinic, when patients complain of headaches, if I accurately release the pressure in this suboccipital muscle area with my fingers, In less than a minute, the patients opened their eyes wide and said, “Doctor, Suddenly, everything in front of me became bright!“, “"It feels like I just threw off the helmet that had been weighing me down all day," he says in amazement.
Headaches are not a minor symptom that you should simply endure or mask by tricking your brain with painkillers. It is a very powerful and desperate SOS distress signal that our body sends to the brain, saying, "My neck muscles feel like they are tearing and my nerves are dying because of this hunched posture, so please, please correct your posture.". If you have gone home after struggling in front of your monitor all day today, A towel from home, before spending a lot of money booking a hospital MRI out of fear, Or, place an empty water bottle under the back of your head and lie still with your eyes closed for exactly one minute.
You will be able to experience the miracle of the dreaded migraines and eye pain that have been gnawing away at your mental health all day long being washed away like magic. Infotherapy sincerely wishes you a vibrant start to tomorrow morning with a clear and refreshed mind and light shoulders.
References and Reliability Cross-validation Data International Headache Society: Link to medical diagnostic criteria for cervicogenic headache and guidelines for differential diagnosis from primary headaches (migraine, etc.): https://ichd-3.org/
Journal of Manual & Manipulative Therapy (JMMT): Link to the paper analyzing the immediate clinical effects of suboccipital release on reducing headache intensity and frequency in patients with chronic headaches: https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/yjmt20
American Physical Therapy Association, APTA): Link to the Biomechanical Relationship between Forward Head Posture and Greater Laryngeal Nerve Entrapment and Principles of Conservative Self-Rehabilitation Treatment: https://www.apta.org/