Oh man, I've got a headache, and it feels
this big! Hey everybody, it's Doctor Jo. Today I am going to show you some simple exercises
and stretches if you have a tension headache. Let's get started. To start off, you want
to just loosen up those neck muscles. You can do some active range of motion. Simply
just start by turning your head like you are looking back behind you. Hold it for about
2-3 seconds, come back the other way looking behind you. Hold it there 2-3 seconds, coming
back. You can to that 5-10 times. Then taking your ear towards your shoulder. It's not bringing
your shoulder up to your ear, keep your shoulder down if you can. Come down to the side, hold
it for 3-5 seconds, and then come back the other way. Hold it about 3-5 seconds or 2-3
seconds, do whatever you can. Then you want to tuck your chin in towards your chest, and
then look up towards the ceiling. So same thing, just a couple seconds hold on each
one, going back and forth. That will loosen up those muscles a little bit. Now if that's
not quite enough, if your not feeling much stretch with that, then put a little pressure
over it and now you want to told it for a little bit longer, so maybe 10-15 seconds.
And then do each direction. I had a little pop in my neck, that's a good thing. Holding
it for 10-15 seconds, a little more if you want to. Then push your chin a little bit
to the side. If you have chin problems, use your had to the whole side of the head instead
of just the chin. Then back the other way. Probably with up and down you don't really
need any pressure. The next one is to actually start activating the muscles a little bit.
So this is an isometric muscle activation. Basically your just pushing into your hand.
So if I was going to look down with my chin, I'm going to put my hand on my forehead, and
push down like I'm trying to take my chin down. You don't want to push super hard, just
a little bit to start off with. Hold it about 3-5 seconds, and do about 3 of those. And
then you can do the same thing by putting your hand behind your head, and push back
like you are doing this motion, but my hand is stopping me from doing that motion. I'm
pushing into my hand. Then pushing on the side. So I would be doing that motion, and
then back the other way. Relaxing. And then, I'd be turning this way in that direction
and pushing into my hand. Holding about 3-5 seconds. After you do all that, then you can
start loosening up the shoulders just a little bit. So you can do shoulder shrugs, about
10 of those. Coming up and down and just a little pause up at the top. It doesn't have
to be too long, and then after those ten, then you can do some circles. Ten one way,
and then reverse it, for the Australians going the opposite direction. You can do some shoulder
squeezes. So you're taking your shoulder blades and trying to push them together. Squeezing
in, hold about 3-5 seconds for this one, and come back. Do ten of those. The last one is
going to be some chin tucks, so I am going to show you how to do it lying down. Now for
the chin tucks, roll up a a nice squishy towel to give you a target. When I say chin tucks,
I don't mean bringing your chin down to your chest. Actually pushing your chin downwards.
So the towel gives you the target to take those neck muscles and push them down. Let
your head rest against the ground, and your pushing down that way. So the chins going
down, holding it for about 3-5 seconds and then coming up. Not going down towards your
chest. Do that about 10 times. Those were some stretches and exercises for tension headaches.
If you have any questions, leave them in the comments section. If you would like to check
out some other videos, go to askdoctorjo.com. Don't forget to follow me on Facebook and
Twitter. Remember be safe, have fun, and I hope you feel better soon!