Could your neck be contributing to your headaches?
Headache and neck symptoms often occur together. The important question is whether your neck is actually contributing to your headache pattern.
We assess your headache history and cervical function together to help make that clearer.
When might the neck be worth assessing?
Headache and neck symptoms occur together
Your headache may occur alongside neck stiffness, discomfort or restricted movement.
Movement affects your headache
Certain neck positions or movements may reproduce or aggravate your familiar headache.
Pain starts around the neck or base of the skull
Some people describe pain beginning around the upper neck or back of the head and travelling towards the side or front.
These features can also occur with migraine and other headache disorders. Having neck pain does not automatically mean your headache is cervicogenic.
We look for evidence, not just a sore neck.
Your history and headache behaviour guide the examination. We look at whether the findings from your cervical assessment appear to match your familiar headache pattern.
- Your headache pattern and location
- When and how your headaches begin
- Whether neck movement changes your symptoms
- Cervical range of motion
- Previous neck injury or whiplash
- Whether examination reproduces your familiar symptoms
- Features suggesting migraine or another headache type
Migraine and neck related headache can overlap.
Neck pain is common in people with headache and migraine, so neck symptoms alone do not tell us where the headache is coming from.
Our job is to determine whether the cervical findings appear clinically relevant to your particular headache pattern rather than assuming the neck is always the cause.
If the assessment does not suggest a meaningful cervical contribution, we'll tell you.
Treatment is based on what we find.
There is no single treatment that suits every cervicogenic headache presentation. Management is guided by your assessment and response.
Manual therapy
Where appropriate, gentle cervical techniques may be used to address movement restriction or reproduce and modify relevant symptoms.
Exercise and movement
Rehabilitation may include cervical strength, mobility, control and gradual return to the activities that matter to you.
A broader headache plan
If migraine, vestibular symptoms or other headache features are also present, these need to be considered rather than treating the neck in isolation.
If your headaches and neck symptoms seem connected, start with an assessment.
We'll help you understand whether your neck appears to be contributing and what the next step should be.