CHARLOTTE – Allergy season abounds! A client asked if massage could help alleviate sinus pressure. I asked what her symptoms were: terrible headache that started above her eyebrows. Pain above her eyebrow, extending into her hairline was still there. She did feel added pressure below her eyes above her teeth. If you’ve ever felt sinus pressure through your teeth, it can be miserable.

One of the keys to help alleviate sinus pressure is to get the fluids behind your facial area moving so they continue to drain. It’s when they get stuck that problems can arise (pain, swelling, infection, ect.).

Working with her face, with slight pressure around the bridge of her nose up onto, below and above, her eyebrows, I gently massage each area. I pulled up and over, then out. I’d start with the bridge of her nose, stopping to gently massage between her eyes, then move over her eyebrows, stopping at the small indentation in her eyebrow. This is called the  supraorbital notch. If you press on these little notches, you can sometimes feel how fluid behind the eyes have moved them ever so slightly. I also massaged starting at the side of her nose and continuing under the cheekbones out and up towards the temple area.

I continued to move the fluid towards the ears so whatever fluid could move out of the face and into the lymph system to move and empty. Sinus or not, this is a lovely and gentle way to get circulation moving.

-Lisa Lane is a licensed (#13098) massage and bodywork therapist in Mint Hill. Visit her website www.ncmassagesanctuary.massagetherapy.com.