Over the last 2 weeks I have made more incremental progress with shoulder and scapula mobility. This is very important, especially as I practice archery. Correct shoulder alignment is crucial in archery, as it significantly improves your accuracy. It also means being able to have a repeatable draw, anchor and arrow release using your skeletal frame to carry the draw weight from a bow. As part of my daily routine, I do neck, jaw and shoulder mobility exercises. This is done before I go to the gym for my strength training. What has changed recently? Neck mobility and comfort levels. The biggest problem has been deep-set tension in my neck and shoulders. Being consistent has allowed me to be more mobile in general, and the tension has shifted from a general sense to more isolated areas. This means when I do add more intensity to my training, I am not experiencing the same level of tension in these areas, and my recovery periods are shorter. With each passing week I can focus on specific areas which need more attention and each improvement means less discomfort.

I have focused on improving the mobility of my shoulder, trapezius, and scapula over the last couple of weeks. As part of my focus on improving range of motion, I have enhanced my middle back mobility through a combination of muscle activation exercises during my mobility training. This improvement in my back mobility has allowed my scapula/shoulder blades to move more freely. The added benefit has been that my trapezius and shoulder mobility have improved, which in turn reduces the pressure on my neck and shoulders. This additional mobility has made my neck feel more relaxed and mobile. I am seeing a chiropractor tomorrow, and it will be good to see how much neck mobility I have compared to the previous visit a couple of months ago. My neck feels significantly more comfortable, and I no longer experience the same general stiffness I had before. I do have some muscle strands or areas which are still experiencing some tension, but as this improves, I expect the comfort to improve and additional functional mobility to increase. There are areas on the back of my neck that require ongoing attention, but it's not nearly as immobile and tense as before. I am doing more muscle control and contraction exercises, which help activate my back muscles. This helps when I do mobility work, and it improves the range of motion in my back. It has a knock-on effect of reducing neck tension, and I am working on incremental improvements in mobility and control. @Deon Wantenaar I know you mentioned issues with your back and I'm wondering how this will help you with that going forward.

I created the group out of a need to collate information with regard to migraines and to provide a resource of treatments and self-care which has been successful. My migraines started in my early 20s when I began working at a research institute in Mpumalanga, where I conducted agricultural research on sub-tropical crops, including mangoes, bananas, guavas, grapefruits, and avocados. Most of the role was working outside, collecting data from irrigation trials and then processing it in an office. Overall, an ideal work environment working in various conditions with some office work. My first recognised migraine was after work, enjoying a beer, when it became so unbearable I had to go home to curl up in a dark room. I was able to recover fairly quickly and had few additional ones afterwards. Fast forward to when I settled in the UK, and migraines started becoming more regular. This was most likely made worse when working at EasyJet Luton HQ, where we had a maintenance hangar behind the office. The amount of fumes from the aircraft was most likely one of the factors which increased migraine regularity. That coupled with long office hours and work stress of working in a small IT team was a factor which increased the regularity of my migraines. My trigger was increased neck tension. I knew a bad one was imminent when my temples began to ache. This was usually the first indication that a migraine was about to happen. I learned to curb the pain by massaging my temples to remove all the tension. Although this eased the discomfort, it never resolved it long-term. During this time I was involved in various sporting activities which included Aikido, then gym training as well as more endurance events which included OCR (obstacle course racing). What I hadnt realised when I injured my right shoulder at the time was that this would be the precursor to several problems and my current migraine situation. I came close to dislocating my shoulder, a couple of months later I started having issues with TMJ when my jaw started clicking. I noticed my jaw alignment was incorrect as well and had to keep my mouth closed to almost force my jaw alignment correct.