Headache Prevention How One Pain Can Cause Another
A migraine or a strong headache can make other upper body pain worse. Imagine you have a frozen shoulder. This is a common, painful and debilitating problem. You are finally getting it treated, but you have a migraine. The chances are your shoulder recovery will receive a set backWhy?Any chronic pain has two things in common. Firstly there is inflammation and secondly there is muscular tension as your bodies means of locking up the affected area to prevent further injury.
When a migraine or strong headache starts, an inflammatory process begins. This isn't just localised to your head but could be measured in the blood in any part of your body. If for example you already had a neck, shoulder or back injury, then the whole inflammatory situation is made worse, increasing the pain in the injured part.
As the migraine/headache progresses, the muscles in your scalp, then neck, shoulder and back will tighten and the existing injury will again be made worse. The point is if you have a history of migraines and headaches then you need to take even greater care to prevent an occurrence when you have another injury.
I saw this recently with a client who was doing very well recovering from a frozen shoulder until she had a migraine. The result was as described above and her shoulder was much worse. A big part of wellness is having the awareness of your body and the way it behaves in various situations, and knowing when to rest and when to take action.
I have had several people say to me that their migraines are worse if they have too many alcoholic drinks. I feel like slapping them with a wet fish to wake them from their self imposed non aware state.
The reverse state can also occur. Yesterday I injured my big toe playing sport. I have treated it with ice and Scenar, but today my whole foot is sore from walking awkwardly and my lower back is feeling tight on the affected side. If I don't remedy this situation next my neck will stiffen and soon a headache may arise and all from a big toe injury.
Our body does not appreciate changing our gait or our posture. It throws stresses into joints and muscles as it tries to compensate. If your neck or your head is your weak link then you are bound to end up with pain if you try to overdo walking on the injured toe. 
