Headaches – Assessed & Treated in Hastings

Headaches are one of the most frequent health concerns in Australia, with around 15 per cent of us taking painkillers for a headache at any given time. Because headaches are so common, most people consider they are a natural part of life.

However, there may be a solution to many headaches, and one of those solutions may lie in the hands of your physio.

Types of Headache
There are more than 400 officially classified, recognised headache types. “Cervicogenic” headache, or headache generated by the neck, is fairly common and can be treated by physiotherapists.

Nerves from the upper parts of the neck are involved with sensation or feeling in the head, and to some extent the face.  It is therefore possible for the neck to cause ‘referred’ head pain… thus a headache.

How Do I Know If My Headache is Neck-Generated?

This is where a detailed assessment from your physio comes in.  However there are common signs you can self-assess that can indicate your neck should be looked at by a physio to see if it’s the source of the problem.  These include neck soreness seeming to trigger headaches or come on at the same time, noticing that doing something relieving to your neck changes your headache, changing your neck position or posture influences your headache, or perhaps that you seem to get one-sided headaches.

Assessment
Your physio will take detailed history of your problem and ask a number of questions about your symptoms.  A thorough physical exam is then performed. After this process your physio can talk to you about whether your neck is the source of your headache and help plan treatment where appropriate.

Treatment
Physiotherapy is an extremely effective treatment for neck related headaches.  Improvement is most commonly achieved with a combination of hands-on therapy and specific neck exercises (and often other upper-body exercises too).

Please call us to arrange your comprehensive headache assessment and begin your journey towards living a life free of headaches!