Has anyone had a massage and gotten a bad headache afterwards? I had one a few weeks ago and had a headache for three days. In addition to that a friend gave me a 15 minute (kind of hard, enough to be a bit painful though at the same time it felt good) shoulder/neck massage a few months ago and the same thing happened. One of the places I am affected by arthritis is my neck and I was wondering if it could be related?
Nancy
Nancy - I suffered a neck injury in December and required physical therapy for 2 months. The first month of therapy the only thing the therapist did was electrical stimulation (which felt really good) and massage. The e-stim was done first, then the massage. She would massage for about 20 minutes and I ALWAYS left there with a pounding headache that lasted for a day or two.
Did you drink LOTS of water afterwards? Drinking water after a massage and i believe getting adjusted helps flush out your system Shannon is right on the money with drinking LOTS of water after a massage or getting adjusted by your chiropractor. When you get a massage or get adjusted it releases toxins into your body that have built up and you need to flush them out. Otherwise you end up with a pounding headache. Thanks for your suggestions. The night my friend massaged my neck I didn't think to do it, but when I had the professional one done they gave me a bottle of water (16 oz.) on the way out and I drank it within about 15 minutes. I usually do drink at least 32 oz. per day (I know I should drink more but teaching kindergarten all day and having to go potty a lot anyway already makes it harder to drink more), so is that not enough after a massage? Maybe a second bottle within an hour or two would have been better?