How We Treat Migraines and Tension-Type Headaches
Chronic headaches are common, and often debilitating. Here's when conservative management can help relieve the pain and discomfort you're dealing with on a regular basis, and when it's time to look elsewhere first.
Headaches can occasionally be a symptom of something more serious, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, or a vascular disorder. If you notice new or different symptoms — especially changes in vision, consciousness, or muscle control — seek medical attention right away.
Tension Headaches
These often feel like a dull, nagging ache tied to muscle tension and the chronic postural strain of simply holding yourself upright, though they can also be severe enough to come with nausea. A thorough exam is important to rule out other causes, including vascular issues. Many tension headaches are actually coming from the neck. When we teach the right mobility and stability exercises to build endurance for daily activity, these headaches often decrease or disappear entirely — manual therapy that improves mobility is frequently the key to lasting relief.
Migraine
Severity alone doesn't tell you whether a headache is a migraine — plenty of severe tension headaches aren't migraines, and some people experience visual migraine with no pain at all. A common question is whether postural changes and manual care like chiropractic can help migraine sufferers. Based on both our own experience treating these patients and the research, the answer is a firm yes. One Australian study found that a 4-week program of chiropractic manual technique led to significant improvement, with 22% of patients reporting a lasting 90% improvement.
Cervicogenic Headaches
Headaches coming from neck strain are a staple in chiropractic offices, and of the headache types, these tend to respond the best to manual therapy and adjustment. They're common in patients who sit in one position for long stretches — at a computer, driving, or playing an instrument. Restoring mobility, stability, and posture can dramatically cut down on the pain.
Conservative Management
Diet, environment, and stress triggers are all worth evaluating. A patient diary kept over a few weeks can reveal patterns that aren't obvious day to day. We start with a physical exam and take a close look at lifestyle, work, posture, and activity level, looking for ergonomic issues, joint fixations, and muscle imbalances — chronic postural strain shows up again and again as the common thread.
Home Care
We teach self-care and exercises that build independence, cut down on recurrence, and reduce how often you need to come back in — things like workstation adjustments, pillow changes, or fixing driving posture, along with simple stretches done throughout the day.
Headache management is one of the areas where we see the most consistent success, though every case is a little different.