The Osteopathic Tension Trifecta
Below you will find three simple things that can be done at home with no medications to help decrease stress, physical and emotional tension, compliment your body’s ability to heal and increase your well-being. You can try them all together or pick and choose what helps you most!
Sub-Occipital Release
Great for those looking to decrease sympathetic overload, relax stress laden muscles and/or improve circulation. This is fantastic for tension headaches!
Sinus Effleurage
Great for those looking to improve sinus drainage, decrease sinus pressure, and/or soothe facial tension. This is fantastic for sinus pressure and headaches.
Deep Breathing Exercises
Great for those looking to decrease whole-body tension, improve lymphatic circulation and/or improve whole-body oxygenation. This is fantastic for helping your body take full advantage of the intricate connection between our circulation, lymphatics, and respiratory systems to improve filtration and oxygenation throughout our body.
Pro Tips
Tension Headaches: Use a cold pack - it can help tremendously. Ideally these will cover the two nerves I discussed with you in the Effleurage video (supraorbital and infraorbital). My favorite that I’ve found is the IMAK Compression Eye Mask. It’s less than $15 on Amazon (I don’t get anything for telling you this…it’s just the best - and cheap - one I have found). Keep it in the freezer (in a plastic bag to prevent it from soaking in odors) then it will be ready to use whenever you need it!
Sinus Pressure: Drink water. Hydrating well will thin mucous. If you don’t drink enough water when suffering from sinus congestion and pressure, no amount of medication will help (you have to have good hydration to deliver that medication through your blood stream and the mucous has to be thinned to get rid of it). By hydrating well and doing effleurage, you can help decrease the congestion and pressure often without medication at all.
Deep Breathing and the Pelvic Floor: Adding deep breathing with core strengthening and pelvic floor exercises can help rebuild stability and balance to the pelvic floor muscles. If you are interested in this type of treatment, text 606.416.6906 and ask about pelvic floor OMT.