Table of Contents
- How People Describe This Pain Pattern
- How You Activate and Intensify This Pain Pattern
- Self-Care – Getting Relief on Your Own
- Musculoskeletal Anatomy Behind Your Pain
- Therapy Notes for Massage and Bodywork
How People Describe This Pain Pattern
People complain of pain in their temple(s) but touch the spot just above the temple. It takes a little investigative work to nail the right trigger point.
At times this occurs by itself. Often, this headache pain occurs with other pain patterns. It can be hard to single out without specific questions. It occurs most often with the headache at the back of your head. This one compares most closely to the headache in the temple but notice that it is higher and without the neck and eye tension.
Most often, clients say that they got it from “sleeping wrong.” They’ll complain about a click or pop in the top of their neck that started the headache. I’ve had that happen to me while reading in bed before sleep. I’ll get a little click with a light headache and then wake with a dull headache in the morning.
How You Activate and Intensify This Pain Pattern
Most often, clients say that they got it from “sleeping wrong.” They’ll complain about a click or pop in the top of their neck that started the headache. I’ve had that happen to me while reading in bed before sleep. I’ll get a little click with a light headache and then wake with a dull headache in the morning.
At times, they can pinpoint laying on their back with the base of their head laying on a hard surface before the headache started. This can start the headache pattern, especially if the surface was cold and the muscle was chilled, compressed and twisted while laying there.
This is also a problem. There are several muscles that get aggravated by jutting the chin forward and resting it on your hand. You’ll see it in several posts. It is worse when you use your hand to support the weight of your head. That really wedges the top vertebra out of place.
The Musculoskeletal Anatomy Behind Your Pain
Musculoskeletal Anatomy
This muscle is part of intrinsic back muscles that stabilize the vertebrae and cranium. Read more about it in this post n semispinalis capitis.
Getting Relief on Your Own
Clinically Proven
Self-Care Strategies
This post has strategies for getting relief on your own. Explore how to change your activities, stretch and other strategies that relieve the pain associated with this trigger point.
Therapy Notes for Massage and Bodywork
Better Bodywork
Through Shared Expertise
This post has techniques, tips, treatment routines, and anatomy illustrations to improve the bodyworker’s approach.
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Tony Preston has a practice in Atlanta, Georgia, where he sees clients. He has written materials and instructed classes since the mid-90s. This includes anatomy, trigger points, cranial, and neuromuscular.
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*This site is undergoing significant changes. We are reformatting and expanding the posts to make them easier to read. The result will also be more accessible and include more patterns with better self-care. Meanwhile, there may be formatting, content presentation, and readability inconsistencies. Until we get older posts updated, please excuse our mess.