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Neck Pain Headache.Treatment for Headaches and Neck Pain."When treating a neck pain headache, please realise that many headaches are mis-diagnosed as Migraines.
People go months taking medications to ease their headache. However, once the correct cause is identified,
a few physiotherapy sessions often resolves their headaches for good!"
The first thing I want to share with you is that so many headaches are, in my opinion, mis-diagnosed as Migraines. People go months, if not years, taking strong medications to ease their headaches. However, if the correct cause is identified, a few simple physiotherapy sessions can often resolve their headaches forever! Neck-related headaches can trick you! Commonly, a client can present to my clinic with a severe headache and with a history of neck pain or neck stiffness. Rarely have my clients linked the two before arriving at my clinic. This does not imply that all headaches are neck-related, but my opinion is that the neck should always be ruled out. Attend a Physiotherapist with a training in the treatment of neck-related headaches to eliminate this simple possibility before you decide on any long term treatment or medication - or at least discuss this possibility with your doctor. Most doctors will appreciate this connection and investigate it before embarking on other forms of treatment. 
So, how is neck pain related to headaches?
The upper neck (known anatomically as C0/1) can refer pain into your forehead and upper head. This is a nerve referral (similar to sciatica in your leg where a nerve in your lower back refers pain down the back or side of your leg). In these situations, re-aligning or mobilising this joint often alleviates your headache.  The muscles of your upper back attach into the base of your skull.
If they become tight they can pull your upper neck joints into compression causing headaches.
This type of headache is very common in office workers and drivers with poor posture and "chin poke".
Such clients may end up wearing glasses as they associate their headaches with the brightness of the screen as opposed to the true cause -
their own posture as they sit and work at their computer.
Another common cause occurs when you are stressed - and often end up clenching your jaw at night in your sleep. This can result in muscles in your neck and face becoming tight - resulting again in a headache. Clients in this situation frequently ends up being treated with bite guards provided by their dentists to alleviate the clenching. However, often simple stretches could alone, or in conjunction with the bite guard alleviate can your headache quicker and more effectively. Treatment of mechanical headaches involves mobilising the tightened muscles, ligaments and joints. With my own clients, I then educate them on postural positions and posture exercises that will prevent these structures from tightening up again. 
Prevention is always better than cure, so posture correction and education in my opinion is a must for us all,
especially if we have work sitting down for an extended period of time.
I would like to finish with an example. Recently, a 75 year old man attended me with a twenty year history of intermittent severe headaches. He reported that they were aggravated by stress and his doctor had been treating him with medication for years. He reported losing days of his life each month as a result of his headaches. After assessing him I realised he was severely restricted in both the joint and muscle mobility of his upper neck. After his first physiotherapy/craniosacral therapy session his headache has gone. He telephoned me six weeks later to inform me that he had had no headaches since this date. Although this man’s headaches may return, at least he now realises that they can be treated manually and successfully without drugs. Now that's a story that brings a smile to my face! Ultimately, I suggest that you seek the advice of an open-minded doctor, physiotherapist and dentist before deciding on the long term management (or just putting up with it!) of your neck-related headaches. This will ensure that you will find the least invasive approach to the management of your neck pain headaches. Good Luck! Back from Neck Pain Headache to Neck and Shoulder Pain. Back from Neck Pain Headache to Back Pain Relief Homepage. |
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The information on this web site does not replace specific medical advice. It should only be used to complement advice from your doctor. Always seek in-person advice from a doctor or other qualified health provider for your particular condition.
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