Where headaches really begin
Tension headaches and many migraines don't start in the head. They start in the muscles of the neck, shoulders, jaw and upper back. Hours of accumulated tension create a vice-like pattern that restricts blood flow, compresses nerves and eventually produces pain.
Painkillers address the symptom. The tension pattern that caused it remains, waiting to produce the next episode.
The tension chain
The body's deep tension patterns are connected. A tight psoas pulls the spine out of alignment. The upper back compensates. The neck and shoulders brace. The jaw clenches. This ascending chain of tension often ends in headache.
If you sit for long periods, carry stress in your shoulders or clench your jaw, this pattern runs almost continuously at a low level. Sometimes it produces a headache. Always it produces the conditions for one.
How TRE interrupts the pattern
TRE releases tension from the bottom up. The tremoring begins in the psoas and moves through the body's connective tissue, releasing holding patterns in the lower back, upper back, shoulders, neck and jaw. By addressing the full chain rather than just the endpoint, TRE can reduce the conditions that produce headaches in the first place.
With regular practice, people tend to notice fewer tension headaches, less neck and shoulder stiffness, and a sense of the head and neck feeling lighter. Migraine episodes often become less frequent too.
Prevention rather than treatment
TRE works best for headaches as a regular practice rather than an acute intervention. Two or three sessions per week helps keep the tension chain from building to the point where it produces pain. Over time, the baseline level of muscular tension drops and headaches become less frequent.