Could your headache be associated to your neck alignment?
“It’s just a headache” – is this something you have heard before, or even said to yourself? Headaches may sound mundane, but they can be incredibly debilitating in your everyday life. Your concentration, focus and work commitments can be affected. This is one of the most common conditions in the world, and should not be ignored. Have you ever heard about a neck alignment headache? Continue reading to learn more.
There are two overarching types of headaches: primary and secondary.
Alternative medications or external forces do not cause Primary headaches. Primary headaches include migraines, tension or cluster headaches.
Secondary headaches are due to an underlying medical condition. They are a result of pain-sensing nerves, changes in muscles, blood vessels or chemical activity.
A migraine can last around 4-72 hours. They can present as a moderate to severe pulsating pain that is usually focused on one section of the head. It is often aggravated by physical activity such as a sport or even just walking around a room. Other clinical symptoms may include nausea and sensitivity to light and sound.
Cluster Headaches
Cluster headaches are a series of short and extremely painful headaches every day for multiple weeks or months. They have greater severity than a migraine, but are not as long-lasting typically only persisting for 30 to 90 minutes. The full force of this headache can arrive in 5-10 minutes. A cluster headache is activated through stimulation of a nerve pathway from the deep area of the brain to the outer facial muscles.
Tension Headaches
Tension headaches are often described as having a tight band wrapped around your skull or having a weight pressing on the crown of your head. Your neck and shoulders may also become painful with this type of headache. Unlike migraines, tension headaches are less severe with no greater disabling symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and light sensitivity.
Physiotherapy services can help alleviate pain, particularly for tension headaches. Gentle relaxation of the muscles can reduce the extensive tension on these structures. For an on-the-go solution, using a Pocket Physio device can fight off those tension headaches. The Pocket Physio is a small tool to allow you to self massage the trigger points with ease. It places pressure on either side of the spine while protecting the internal structure. Using this device on tender or tight parts of your neck can slowly allow this to ease letting you carry on with your day.
As a disclaimer, with any sort of chronic, repetitive headache that is impacting your daily life it is encouraged to seek professional help. A physiotherapy session here at Pivotal Motion can help to determine trigger points for your headaches and provide you exercises and tools, such as the Pocket Physio, to let you live your best headache-free lifestyle.
Call 07 3352 5116 today if you have any questions regarding neck alignment headache related issues.
