Migraines - Where they come from (muscularly)

You don't need to know all the muscle names or chemical process by which a migraine occurs to understand the basic concept of migraines.

Migraines are caused by a number of factors and triggered by a plethora of things ranging from smells to food to stress or even blood pressure.

There are a few main principles that are at the core of understanding how the body works.

Muscles don’t push, they only contract, hold, and relax.

No muscle works without affecting other muscles.

Muscles move bones.



When your body is in a state of stress, the muscles contract and hold your body into a forward or flexed position. This position is commonly known as fight or flight. When your body is not in a state of stress, the muscles relax and hold only minor tension when needed to perform everyday actions like standing, sitting, and walking.



In the stressed state, your core muscles will contract. Not all muscles will contract equally on all sides of the body, the muscles will contract based on your dominant side or dominant hand. Not everyone who is right handed will contract in the exact same way, but the pattern will be similar.



As your core muscles contract, you will flex forward. This will shorten the muscles on the front side of your body and stretch muscles on your back just like if you ball up your fist. But unlike a fist, your head will tilt up so you can see, not unlike riding a street-style racing bicycle.



So the muscles attaching at your collarbone are pulling down, and this causes your shoulder blades to rise like a hoop-skirt, and your neck extends in a sharp arc backward pulled by contracting muscles in the back of your neck.



The force of the muscles pulling at the front of your neck and collarbone and the muscles contracting in the back of your neck put pressure on the front and back of your head. This is why these are common places for migraines to be felt. People often refer to this feeling as “the halo”. If the pressure continues, the tissue across the top of the head is pulled taught and this is where the “exploding-head” feeling comes from.

The combination of muscles contracted and holding continuously and then contracting even more when a stressful reaction is triggered can result in a migraine. In people that do not suffer from migraines, the muscles may be contracted but not to excess.

Happy Holidays

The greatest gift I have ever received was to become pain-free.
By 2006 I had been in 2 car accidents, in the first one I was hit by a drunk driver and the second accident 10 years later I was hit by an oncoming car at 70mph driven by a 17yr old who was talking on a cell phone, and had two on the job injuries while working at a major computer company. I was in constant pain.

I was at the hotel testing location to take the state test for my massage therapy license when I met Michael Critz. Mike was offering free demonstrations in the exhibition hall where massage products, tools and other continuing education demonstrations were going on.
After watching a few demonstrations, I volunteered to be on the table next. It was a different experience, the stretching, some pulling, repositioning, resistive stretching, but nothing he did caused me any pain. I had been to a chiropractor, doctors, physical therapy, triggerpoint massage, deep tissue massage, swedish massage, and sent home with pain pills and muscle relaxers, but I had never had lasting relief from my pain.
When the 10 or 15 minute demonstration was over, I stood up and I didn't hurt. I could remember where the pain had been, but it wasn't sore or hurting anymore.

Its been 5 years almost to the day, and my original pain has never re-occured. I've had another accident (rearended while in stop & go traffic), and I rebalanced myself, did my homework stretching, and I still have no pain.
I'm thrilled to have learned Critz Technique and I offer it at my own business now. There's no reason for people to continue to hurt.
My greatest gift that I give is to help someone else become pain-free.