Massage therapist Matthew Nogrady opens Headache Massage Inc. in Maitland

Nothing can hinder productivity, sleep and general wellness like a splitting headache, but a new massage practice opening up in Maitland is looking to soothe those nagging pains.

Massage therapist Matthew Nogrady recently opened his new practice, Headache Massage Inc., in Maitland, giving patients suffering from headaches a place to find relief.

The interest in treating headaches and migraines comes naturally to Nogrady — he’s experienced them for most of his life.

“I wanted to open a very unique practice that specifically is focused on the headache population, just because I had headaches as a child in school, both my parents had headaches, and it’s something personal to me that I’m passionate about,” Nogrady said. “This practice isn’t going to be for reflexology, foot massage, full-body or deep tissue massages. The focus is going to be upper body, back, neck and shoulders — specific muscles that have to do with tension headaches and trigger points within those muscles that refer to the skull and to the areas where people have their tension headaches and also people with migraine headaches.”

Nogrady started experiencing full-blown migraines in freshman year of high school. Some discussions with local high-school teachers in the area revealed that demographic experiences the most headaches, because of social issues, hormonal changes and the stress of school, Nogrady said.

The lingering pain makes it difficult to keep up with assignments and thus leads to more stress, Nogrady said.

“If we go back to when I was in school and I started having headaches … I couldn’t do homework, I couldn’t focus, I had a hard time focusing in class, and it becomes this vicious cycle,” Nogrady said. “I’ve lost so many hours of work from migraines and tension headaches. So much of our population now has anxiety, depression, pain — all of those things lead to headaches and headaches lead to all of those things.”

According to the International Headache Society, there are currently at least 28 million migraine sufferers age 12 and older in the United States. Another study by the International Headache Society revealed tension headaches are even more common, and the Virtual Medical Centre reported that for about 40% of the tension-headache population, medication doesn’t relieve the pain.

That’s part of the reason why Nogrady is a strong believer in the natural healing of massage.

“I wanted to offer more of a natural alternative or choice for people to go have treatment and seek pain relief — something non-pharmacological,” Nogrady said.

Nogrady’s journey toward becoming a massage therapist began at age 17. He already had been having headaches and was giving his parents massages to ease theirs. 

After working a variety of other jobs for more than a decade, he rediscovered his passion for massage therapy in his mid-20s. He attended Florida College of Natural Health and got licensed as a massage therapist. His first job was at a chiropractor office for patients who had experienced whiplash in car accidents — a major onset for headaches.

In the past 20 years, Nogrady has expanded his area of focus — teaching massage therapists, working at various massage offices, opening an athletic massage practice and even serving as the athletic massage therapist for the Orlando City Soccer Club and the Houston Astros during their spring training in 2011.

Nogrady was inspired to return to a focus on headache relief in 2013 after reading a book by massage therapist Ross Turchaninov and taking a class with him in 2015 in San Antonio specifically on headache massage. He has taken those techniques with him into the field and has gotten positive feedback ever since.

Nogrady still experiences headaches of his own and said that’s a part of what’s brought him back to relieving headaches.

“It’s something I think about every day: helping people,” Nogrady said. “I like the idea of improving people’s quality of life.”