The dreaded migraine hangover—you’ve been laying in bed for days (if you are like me), and your muscles feel like you have been beaten with a sack of nickels. Stretching and utilizing a foam roller are SERIOUSLY two of the best tools for anyone with sore and tight muscles. I never realized how wonderful it was until years of PT introduced me after my cervical spine surgeries. On a previous post, I talked about some great ways to use your foam roller to “roll” out some of those pesky back muscles that get tight after a migraine attack. But I thought I would dive a little deeper with some additional GO TO stretches you can do with your foam roller for SERIOUSLY tight muscles after days of an attack!
- Chest– Did you know that if your back is tight that you should be stretching your back AND your front body??!! This is yet another thing I learned in PT, that you have to stretch your front body as much as you stretch your back body if you suffer from extremely tight muscles. When my back feels REALLY tight after laying in bed a few days I always make sure to get a good chest/shoulder/side body stretch in as well. This video here shows all the ways I use my foam roller to roll out those muscles. Using your foam roller is great but you can also use a tennis ball and just lay on the tight areas. I can always tell where I am extra tight by what HURTS the most to roll over! Here is a great video demonstrating proper technique for this—it HURTS but is SO amazing for tight chest muscles!
- Neck– After a bad attack, my neck can feel SO STIFF! Foam rolling my neck is one of my favorite parts of my day. You essentially get to lay and gently move your head around rolling the foam roller on the icky spots on your neck. Here is a great video that illustrates this. I also will use my other favorite product THE STICK for really stiff neck days.
- Lower Back- After laying in bed, a good roll on the foam roller always feels amazing on my lower back. This is a great video that shows how to properly roll out your lower back.
Foam rolling is great, but some gentle yoga and meditation is also a great way to make the migraine hangover days feel less horrible. I really love Yoga with Adriene on YouTube…she has some great yoga gentle flow sequences (this one is one of my favorites), and this lovely meditation .
I hope this is yet another set of tools to add to your migraine hangover toolbox!
Modern Migraine Mama 