Muscle Tightness + Exercise/ Yoga = Nausea. Why?
October 26, 2017 11:37 AM   Subscribe

I get nauseated when I try to move or massage my angry, tight back muscles. Why does this happen, and is there anything I can do to prevent it?

I have migraines and I have a lot of muscle tension, particularly in my neck and upper back. I feel like the pain and the muscle tension and the migraines are all connected, all causes and effects of each other.
I know that my muscle tightness is severe and ingrained enough that it causes and exacerbates crappy posture, pain, migraines. So I do yoga, I stretch, I get massages and try and get my angry muscles to loosen up and build up my strength. (I do admittedly really need to do better at that last part; my upper back compensates for weakness in other areas.) I feel like I grok this cycle, and which habits and activities make the pain worse and which help.
Here's what I don't get, though. I don't understand how the nausea fits in. Doing things that I assume are 'good' for me, trying to get the muscles to release, trying to build strength or stretching can make me nauseated and cause an upset stomach (no vomiting, just a really oogy feeling, sometimes mild and sometimes rather overwhelming). So, it's pretty much a given that when I get a massage, or do yoga (with certain positions like back bends causing more) that I will have to deal with some nausea.

So, 1: Why? Why does manipulating and moving tight muscles make me nauseated?
2: Any ideas on how to prevent nausea when I exercise/ get a massage? (Nausea is also a part of my migraines, so I'm pretty set on the treatment side: I've got meds, teas, ginger and peppermint, etc. I also feel confident that I drink enough water.)
posted by queseyo to Health & Fitness (5 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
I had a similar situation due to chronically terrible posture and was helped greatly by seeing a physical therapist who also did chiropractic manipulations. He assigned me a series of stretches and had me sl-o-o-o-o-o-wly (like, over a period of weeks, VERY SLOWLY) work to build strength in my weakened muscles and loosen my overcompensating/tightened muscles. Going slowly was a little frustrating, but doing stretches faithfully each day, and very gradually increasing range of motion before incorporating the next set of stretches, was key. I'd been trying massage / TheraCanes and tennis balls / yoga on my own, and because I was being aggressive and going too hard, I ended up worsening my symptoms and feeling gross afterward. You could try something similar: do wall stretches for two weeks, but do them twice a day, every single day. Then do wall stretches plus doorway stretches. Then do the first two plus gentle neck rolls. Etc.

Seriously, though, finding a professional who could lead me through the process and keep me from going too hard was so helpful.
posted by halation at 11:53 AM on October 26, 2017 [1 favorite]


(can't edit, but just to add: I don't know *why* the nausea is a thing, but it was a thing for me too, and I assume it has something to do with the way the whole circuit is wired. Even if I don't have a migraine, I can still get nauseated by a really bad stiff neck. Referred pain along nerves can do weird stuff.)
posted by halation at 12:01 PM on October 26, 2017


I get this too, sometimes. I figured that it's the pressure from super tight muscles being pushed against the stomach / intestines from the back as I'm moving or stretching, but I really don't know. Also, releasing muscles is 'good for you' but that doesn't mean it's not painful! Sometimes even doing shoulder releases will make me feel sick if they're really tight. Maybe it's lactic acid releasing or something.

The only way I've found to solve this is doing a bunch of hip flexor stretches (I took some pilates lessons to learn how to do these correctly) before doing back stretches or exercises. I stretch my hips every day even if I don't do a full exercise routine and that helps so much. No idea why, but bodies are weird.
posted by ananci at 2:57 PM on October 26, 2017


I get this too! I have fibromyalgia and migraines, with a lot of tension and pain in my neck and upper back. When I massage, release, or exercise these muscles, I get a lot of nausea and dizziness.

My physiotherapist—who's an intramuscular stimulation specialist; IMS is a type of Westernized acupuncture—describes it as, tight muscles exert compression on the nerves of the neck (not "nerve compression" per se, just very slight compression or pressure). These nerves also carry signals having to do with balance, so it causes anything from low-level nausea to dizziness and vertigo. That's my layman's understanding of what he said, anyway.

You might want to look at the concept of trigger points and/or myofascial pain. Here's an article about sternocleidomastoid trigger points causing dizziness, vertigo, and nausea. Trigger points aren't "scientific fact" so much as they're a useful collection of concepts defining muscle pain patterns, symptoms, and useful treatments.

(In case you're interested in trying it, I find IMS-style acupuncture gives me a lot deeper release of tight muscles than any type of massage or exercise I've tried, with less nausea/stiffness than trying to "work through" the pain with stretch. Traditional acupuncture doesn't help me in the same way, though.)
posted by fire, water, earth, air at 3:55 PM on October 26, 2017 [3 favorites]


I've definitely experienced nausea after massage and exercise. I was told, years ago, that it was because of lactic acid being released into the bloodstream. But, Googling that now, it appears to be a myth? Another possible suspect: rhabdomyolysis
posted by Secret Sparrow at 10:07 PM on October 26, 2017


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