Headache

What is a headache?

‘Cervico-genic headache’ is just a fancy-pants way of saying ‘headache that comes from your neck’. There’s no cultured way to put this – it can be a bloody nightmare. Some lucky folks get the added bonus of: dizziness, nausea, altered vision, jaw pain and even tinnitus. Pain is most commonly one sided and can make you feel like there is an industrial sized vice squeezing your skull. Or – a deep dull ache behind your eye. There’s lots of possible joy from headache.

Why do headaches happen?

The top 3 joints in your neck and the muscles around it can have a nasty habit of referring pain into your head when they get overloaded. The joints and muscles can get overloaded for a bunch of different reasons. Could be painting the ceiling, sitting in front of a laptop for 20hrs a day, a long drive in a suspension-less car, stress – either emotional or mental (or both). You might even have a genetic predisposition to it (thanks mum and dad).

What can you do about headaches? Headache Physiotherapy in Newcastle.

First thing is to get the muscles to settle down and often gentle massage helps this. Gentle mobilisations for the top joints can also work wonders, in fact they can change your life if done correctly. Then – get to the guts of why its happening! Mid back stiffness and shoulder weakness can be a big contributor, as can everyones favourite muscle – the traps. So strength for the weak bits and get the stiff bits moving better.

How long will headaches take?

You should see change in your symptoms within 3 sessions of physio. If not – either we’ve got the treatment wrong or the diagnosis wrong. Often it can take 4-6 wks to really get the headache on the hop and to change some of the deeper, more causal factors – might be a few months.