Headache

Headaches have many causes including tension, migraine, dehydration and food intolerance. As a physio the type we can help in general is cervical headache. This can be caused by a number of structures in the upper back and neck region. There are many trigger points in the muscles of this area and each has a specific pain referral pattern. This means that if you get spasm in a specific trigger point then the pain can be felt over a defined area of the upper back, neck and/or head. This specificity allows for accurate daignosis of a possible cause of the head pain. The symptoms may be linked to a certain repetitive activity possibly work or exercise related. Most often however poor posture is the main culprit. With more and more people leading sedentary home and working lives there seems to be a growing lack of awareness of how the body is moving and functioning (this could be linked to advancements in technology meaning that more and more tasks are being taken out of our hands). Many people I see who have extremely poor posture have no awareness of this and feel that they are upright, central and relaxed rather than slouched, twisted and full of tension. A mirror is a useful tool to self examine and to increase awareness. The brain loves repitition of movement patterns which helps it to lay down little connections in the subconcious mind allowing it to take care of little tasks like posture with out any concious thought. Posture should be brought in to the forefront of the mind to increase awareness. This one factor could reduce the number of headaches linked to tension dramatically. From a treatment point of view the inital advice would regard posture and neck exs to release tension. Manual therapy would involve spine mobilisation, trigger point release, acupressure, massage, traction, acupuncture and relaxation. Fantastic longterm reduction in cervical headaches can be achieved through these techniques.