| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| vinceyoung2009 |
Posted - January 11 2010 : 01:13:44 AM
I have come across some clients that complain about headaches during or after the massage. The main reason why this happens is because of dehydration. The massage acts as a diuretic, which flushes the water out of the system. Therefore I often advise my clients to drink ample of water either before or after the massage. You can know that youve had enough water when the urine is more watery than yellow, or if you go to the washroom at least 2-3 times after a massage. Furthermore, alcohol is a strict no-no before, during, or after a massage as it acts as a dehydrating agent.
If the headache stays for a day or two, its okay, but if it stays for a longer time like 3-4 days, you must see a medical practitioner. Prolonged headache could be a matter of serious concern. The headache might occur because of mental pressure or migraine.
If you feel that the massage therapist is applying too much pressure, you should exercise the option to either slow down the massage, or stop it entirely. If you have any questions, or would like to discuss any problems that you faced during a massage, please post it below in the comments section.
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| 17 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| ThaiKosai |
Posted - January 18 2016 : 03:55:16 AM
Another vote for water - the headaches are generally dehydration. We give customers a glass of water before they leave, and recommend them to drink another glass or two when they get home/back to work..
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| DevinBaker33 |
Posted - September 16 2014 : 07:25:34 AM
I also advise my clients not to take alcohol before they visit me in order to avoid headaches. |
| ana378 |
Posted - June 12 2014 : 10:40:38 AM
I would agree that it is good to drink a large glass of water and take your time to awake from the massage. On the massage table it is important to have your head positined well so that there is no force on your cervical vertebrae. I would agree that massaging acts as a diuretic and it is imortant to replace the fluid lost, I'm not quite sure why??? |
| jennyjobs |
Posted - March 27 2013 : 10:10:20 AM
Never heard anyone having headache after massage! I mean the point is the whole relaxation unless you have hit some bad massage therapist ... that's whole another story... |
| tchelsa |
Posted - June 14 2012 : 09:06:55 AM
Great tips, really very helpful for masseuse. |
| LyonsTherapy |
Posted - May 28 2012 : 02:54:52 AM
Wow you all have great comments and tips, I am kind of new here and I plan to stay!
thank you all for keeping our forums active and productive!!
I will share my experience about headaches as a client and as a therapist...
As a patient I have experienced very few headaches but actually tried some of the above and noticed that water, long strokes like effleurag do help..
But most of all Ground Yourself! this for me is the #1 Rule: this will prevent not only headaches but also other body aches, even leg cramp & twitching = this too is a lack of water and oxygen in the tissues...and grounding helps you NOT to pick up the headache from your client...did this ever happen to you after Giving A Massage??? it happened to me more than when I'm the client..try it! and let us know?!
LyonTherapy :) |
| CalgaryRMT |
Posted - February 28 2012 : 04:28:29 AM
It's important to flush blood away from the next using long strokes on both sides like effleurage. |
| morechir |
Posted - December 01 2011 : 04:27:51 AM
That is right. Sometimes it can also occur because of wrong positioning of the head why massaging. Sometimes the patient will not only experience headache but also fever maybe because it has an infection. |
| Salla |
Posted - October 21 2011 : 7:34:47 PM
You should drink lots of water after the massage. That will prevent dehydration causing the headache.
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| Fred |
Posted - May 03 2011 : 05:31:51 AM
I never knew about this fact that massage acts as a diuretic, and it flushes the water out of the system.
i am not an alcoholic, however i am suffering from regular headache and i don't want to live on pain killers
i think i am depressed and not happy with my life and this could be one of the reason behind my issue |
| JenM.E.Uptown |
Posted - April 29 2011 : 8:50:12 PM
quote:
Originally posted by ShamaKern
In my personal experience massage definitely acts as a diuretic. If I get a massage, my bladder invariable fills up quickly. I never knew why that is. Does anyone know?
Regarding the headaches, doing a 10 minute gentle head and face massage at the end of the session will go a long way towards preventing headaches.
Massage puts the body into parasympathic mode which, among other things, increases the productivity of the G.I. tract. Many times we're in such a rush and hustle (the sympathetic mode) that our systems sieze up.
For more excellent tips regarding massage and self care visit Massage Essential's website at www.massage-essential.com |
| ShamaKern |
Posted - April 16 2011 : 10:09:13 AM
In my personal experience massage definitely acts as a diuretic. If I get a massage, my bladder invariable fills up quickly. I never knew why that is. Does anyone know?
Regarding the headaches, doing a 10 minute gentle head and face massage at the end of the session will go a long way towards preventing headaches. |
| Downtowner |
Posted - April 13 2011 : 4:09:41 PM
There are a few reasons that massage can cause or exacerbate a headache; dehydration (already discussed in other posts), increased blood flow to the head which can cause blood vessels to dilate - using an ice pack wrapped in a towel and placed around the back of the neck and or across the forehead can alleviate this and lastly, when releasing trigger points, the neck and head can be very sensitive especially if the TP is released before fully resolved or if one side of the head or neck iss released and not the other. When doing deep work on the neck or occipitals at the base of the skull I always make sure I have enough time to get through all the TPs or I just perform Swedish techniques to loosen the muscles up.
Hope this helps! |
| Sheldon |
Posted - March 21 2011 : 6:39:40 PM
I always provide my clients with a glass of water after a massage because toxins are released from your tissues during a massage into your blood stream. This can tend to cause headaches. Water helps to rehydrate the system to flush these toxins out. |
| RasmusRamskov |
Posted - December 26 2010 : 5:07:05 PM
My experience is that the headache often has to do with the fact that a lot of old stuff is released from the muscle tissue... old lactoacids,hormones, broken down muscletissue etc etc. Some people feel groggy after the massage, and it might even become a headache.
So a reason why water also helps could be that it helps the lymphsystem to get rid of all this stuff. It is very similar to a headache from drinking alcohol:)
Sometimes it also seems that healthy people dont get the same issues with headaches.
Allways tell your clients to drink water after the massage and plenty of it. Its the only thing that helps that i know of.
Best to you all from Ras |
| vo444 |
Posted - November 01 2010 : 1:46:09 PM
Hi,
Also, headache appears because of redistribution of blood flow and blood pressure decreasing, as a result of vasodilatation. So, an advise to drink ample of water can be rather meaningful in order to increase blood pool and improve circulation.
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| jitendrasnv |
Posted - April 21 2010 : 12:58:15 AM
Hi,
Headache after massage depends on person to person as it do not always happens that the head ache occurs after massage.
It also depends on the type of massage that one is having because the massage therapist should be enough experienced to have know the nature of the person and then massage accordingly to avoid head ache.
Thanks |
