'Headache has been underestimated, under-recognized and under-treated throughout the world.' - World Health Organisation
There are lots of different reasons why we experience headaches, such as illness, tiredness, dehydration, stress, vision changes and many more! However, if you are suffering from chronic or frequent headaches, frequent migraines or tension headaches then there may be a musculoskeletal cause which we can help with. Extra symptoms including vision changes, jaw tension and fatigue all factor into how best to deal with ongoing issues with headaches.
Our Headache Care Process
Understanding
Headaches are horrible and we want to understand how they are affecting you and what they are stopping you from being able to do so we are best placed to help you get back to feeling like yourself again.
Triggers
Formally discussing your headaches with a professional experienced in headache management, carefully working with you to try and identify possible triggers.
Type of Headache
Determining the nature of your headaches by looking at the character, frequency and associated symptoms
This will help to identify which kind of headache (or combination of) may be responsible for your pain.
Plan
We can then work out a personalised strategy to help you with often including manual therapy, lifestyle changes and stretches or exercises to help you get back to your life.
Some of the primary headaches that we can help with are:
Tension headaches
The most common type of headache, making up about 90% of primary headaches.
Stress and muscle tension are often factors in these headaches. Tension headaches usually don’t cause nausea, vomiting, or sensitivity to light. They do cause a steady ache, rather than a throbbing one. They tend to affect both sides of the head.
Tension headaches may be chronic, occurring often, or every day.
Migraine with and without aura
The exact cause of migraine is not yet understood, but a family history can predict whether you will suffer from them.
Triggers can include hormonal changes, diet, poor sleep, or emotional stress.
They are often accompanied by nausea, vomiting and/or light and sound sensitivity.
It is sometimes preceded by a short lasting “aura”: reversible visual or sensory changes and occasionally other symptoms.
Despite the number of different triggers and causes, they may be improved with medication, lifestyle changes, as well as advice and movement.
Cervicogenic headaches
These originate in the neck leading to a headache.
This can be caused by low level irritation in the neck, postural changes, or traumatic incidents such as whiplash.
There are connections between the muscles in your neck and around your head, as well as neurological connections that can cause neck issues to present as headaches.
These can all be influenced by stretches, exercises or interventions in our clinic.
Fortunately there is quite a lot that can be done to alleviate headaches of all types including stretches and exercises, as well as manual interventions.
Headache Resources
Trusted Opticians
It’s always a good idea to make sure eyesight isn’t a contributing factor here are a couple of excellent opticians who can help.
Bird Opticians 0114 270 1423 City Centre