Tension Headache

 

Could Your Neck Be Part of the Problem?

If you regularly experience a dull, tight headache across your forehead, temples or the back of your head, you’ve probably called it a tension headache.

And you may have tried the usual things.

Pain relief. A massage. Stretching your neck. More water. Less screen time.

They might help, but then the headache comes back.

So why does it keep happening?

At Melbourne Headache & Concussion Group (MHCG), that’s a question we think is worth investigating.

What does a tension headache feel like?

Tension-type headache is one of the most common headache disorders.

People often describe it as:

• A dull, aching or pressing pain

• Tightness or pressure around the forehead or temples

• A “band” wrapped around the head

• Pain around the back of the head or upper neck

• Headaches lasting anywhere from 30 minutes to several days

• Symptoms that aren’t usually made significantly worse by normal physical activity

For some people, tension headaches happen occasionally.

For others, they become frequent enough that headaches simply start to feel like part of everyday life.

They shouldn’t have to.

Is your neck contributing to your headaches?

Not every tension-type headache comes from the neck.

But in some headache sufferers, the upper cervical spine: the top part of the neck, may contribute to the pain they experience.

This is because sensory information from structures in the upper neck and sensory information from the head and face converge within closely connected pathways in the nervous system.

Put simply:

Your brain can receive pain information from both your head and your upper neck through overlapping pathways.

That’s one reason assessing the neck can be important in someone experiencing recurrent headaches.

It can also help explain why simply relaxing tight muscles may provide temporary relief without necessarily addressing everything contributing to the headache.

How do we know if the neck is involved?

This is where a detailed headache assessment becomes important.

At MHCG, our osteopaths have undertaken advanced training in the Watson Headache® Approach, with a particular focus on assessing the upper cervical spine in people experiencing headache and migraine.

Rather than simply finding a “tight neck”, we’re interested in whether particular structures in the upper cervical spine appear to influence your familiar headache.

During your assessment, we may examine whether carefully applied movements or sustained pressure reproduce your recognisable headache symptoms.

Importantly, we then assess what happens when that input is changed.

Does your familiar headache reduce?

Does the pressure behind your head or temples change?

Can we identify a reproducible relationship between your neck and your headache?

That information helps us determine whether the cervical spine may be one contributor to your headache presentation.

Why does my tension headache keep coming back?

There isn’t one answer for everyone.

Headaches can be influenced by multiple factors, including sleep, stress, medication use, physical activity, work demands and other health factors.

For some people, musculoskeletal input from the neck may also be part of the picture.

That’s why repeatedly treating the painful area without properly assessing the headache can be frustrating.

The goal isn’t simply to make today’s headache feel better.

It’s to understand what may be contributing to the pattern of headaches in the first place.

What does treatment involve?

If our assessment suggests your neck is contributing to your headaches, treatment is individualised to what we find.

Our approach may include gentle, targeted hands-on treatment of the upper cervical spine, alongside education, movement and practical strategies to help you better manage the factors associated with your headaches.

We’re not interested in simply telling you that your neck is “tight”.

We want to understand whether it is actually relevant to your headache.

When should you get recurring headaches assessed?

If you’re experiencing headaches regularly, relying increasingly on medication, noticing a change in your usual headache pattern, or simply haven’t been able to work out why they keep returning, it’s worth having them properly assessed.

And if you’ve been told:

“They’re probably just tension headaches.”

…but they keep coming back, there may be more worth investigating.

At Melbourne Headache & Concussion Group, our clinicians focus on the assessment and management of headache, migraine and concussion-related symptoms.

Could your neck be contributing to your headaches?

Book your initial appointment online or request a free 15 minute phone consult call (03) 9397 8877 if you would like further informatio

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