Headaches are literally a pain in the neck. Anyone who has suffered headaches will know they can be debilitating and ultimately affect mood, diet, exercise, work productivity and even relationships. Sometimes the only thing to do when you have a headache is bury your head in a pillow after taking numerous types of pills to ease the pain.

But did you know that often headaches are nothing to do with dehydration or lack of sleep? Sometimes headaches can be referring from your neck without you even realising. Yes, that’s right your neck! Just because you don’t have actual pain in your neck, doesn’t mean the headache is not an caused by your neck.

Is your headache throbbing in nature and starts at the back of the head, moving into your eyes and feels heavy? Does your heachache get worse when you move your head or is the pain radiating down one side of your face? If this is you, there is a high chance your headaches are neck related.

So why does this happen? Wel, there are many problems that can occur in the neck to cause the headaches. Most commonly the poor movement in the mid cervical region related to poor posture (in particular rounded shoulders) can cause the trapezius muscle to tighten and pull upward. The referral pattern from this muscle is typically one sided head, ear or face pain. If you squeeze your upper trapezius muscle you can feel that referral pain into your ear and face and sometimes replicate the headache. This type of headache really responds well to some dry needling and Joint release around he C5/C6 facet along with a few postural changes that can be made.

Other causes of neck related headaches may be osteoarthrits and chronic muscle tightness, prolapsed disc or can occur following a whiplash injury. All of these can be diagnosed by a simple xray of the neck or even just through a thorough clinical examination by your Chiropractor.

If you suffer with headaches, it is really important you get these assessed by a health professional. Your chiropractor is trained to comprehensively assess your presentation and determine if your headaches are neck related.

So don’t suffer with your headache any longer, get back to your life and get a thorough assessment from your Chiropractor today! We are based in beautiful Bulimba and can be accessed from Lytton Road from Norman Park, Cannon Hill, Balmoral, Morningside and surrounds. We have ample parking and you can book your appointment online 24 hours a day. Otherwise call us on 0434 059 242. We look forward to helping you on your journey.

If you like a bit of research, this is for you:

references:

Bryans R, Descarreaux M, Duranleau M, Watkin R. Evidence Based Guidelines for the Chiropractic Treatment of Adults with Headache. 2011.Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapies. 34(5) P274-289 June 01, 2011. accessed: www.jmptonline.org

Bronfort G, Nilsson N, Haas M, Evans M, Goldsmith CH, Assendelft WJ, Bouter CM. Noninvasive Physical Therapies for chronic recurrent headache. Chochrane Database Sys Review 2004 (3) CD001878

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