Ease a tension headache without painkillers: 3 self-massage moves

The most common kind of headache — a dull, tight, band-like pressure around the head — usually isn’t coming from your head at all. It builds from tight muscles in the neck, jaw and the base of the skull, often from stress, screens and clenching. Here are three gentle moves that can take the edge off.

If your headaches are sudden, severe, unusual for you, or come with other symptoms, please see a doctor — these tips are for everyday tension headaches.

1. Temples and brow

• Using your fingertips, make slow, light circles on your temples for 30 seconds.
• Then press gently along your brow line, from the centre out toward the temples, a few times.

2. The base of your skull

This is the key spot for tension headaches.

• Place your thumbs or fingertips where your skull meets your neck, either side of the spine.
• Press in gently and hold, or make tiny circles, for 30–45 seconds. Breathe slowly.

3. Your jaw

We hold a surprising amount of tension here, especially if you clench.

• Find the muscle at the angle of your jaw (clench lightly and you’ll feel it bulge).
• Massage it in small circles for 20–30 seconds on each side, letting your jaw relax and your teeth part slightly.

And then

• Soften your screen time, sip some water, and let your shoulders drop away from your ears.
• A few slow breaths help more than you’d expect.

If tension headaches are a regular visitor, the underlying tightness in your neck and shoulders usually needs proper hands-on work to settle. A focused deep tissue session — at your home or my studio in Dubai — targets exactly the areas these headaches come from.