Is your Headache a Pain in the Neck?

22/05/2018

Is your headache a pain in the neck?

If you experience regular headaches, there could be a simple explanation, and an osteopathic solution.

While there can be many causes of headaches, the most common type of headaches are Tension-type headaches. These may feel like a tight band around the forehead, although the ‘tension’ often originates from muscles in the shoulders, neck and base of the skull.

The cause of the tension may include everyday stress and anxiety, fatigue, poor posture (‘text neck’ is becoming increasingly common!), dehydration or a restriction in the movement of the joints in the neck.

Osteopaths can help identify the causes of your headache, help with making lifestyle changes to relieve them and, if appropriate, offer hands-on treatment that can significantly reduce the tension and ease the headaches. Using massage, articulation and mobilization techniques, tight muscles can be relaxed, range of movement increased and posture improved, which can help to reduce the incidences of headaches.

Osteopaths can also help identify other, more serious, causes of headaches, and will refer you to your GP for further testing if necessary.