Pain Week – Headaches
Headaches are a very common medical condition that are often debilitating and can impair people’s quality of life. Frequently people suffer in silence and do not seek healthcare when they have pain due to the stigma ‘that headaches are all in the mind’. Below is a list of headaches that can benefit from manual therapy:
- Cervicogenic Headache
- Location and symptoms: one-sided, non-throbbing headache that can refer to the shoulder and arm.
- Precipitating factors: irritated neck joints and muscles
- Temporomandibular Joint/Jaw Dysfunction (TMJ)
- Location and symptoms: a muscle contraction type of pain, followed by a painful “click” noise when opening the mouth.
- Precipitating factors: poor bite, stress, jaw clenching or tight jaw muscles
- Tension-type Headache
- Location and symptoms: a dull, non-throbbing pain, often described as a band around the head. Associated with tightness of the scalp or neck with the degree of severity remaining constant
- Precipitating factors: emotional stress, depression, stressful job, tight shoulder and neck muscles
When our practitioners address your headache, they will take a thorough medical history to ensure you have a headache that can benefit from treatment. They will assess your neck, jaw, shoulder and trunk movements. Perform orthopaedic testing. Once this information has been gathered, they will identify the best treatment approach. Often, they will provide sleep position and pillow advice, stretches or mobility exercises.
If you would like to better understand your headaches, feel free to contact our practitioners at Canberra City Health Network or book here.