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Technically, headaches are caused by electrical disturbances in various parts of the brain. Headaches are common and to a certain degree normal, and are something all of us have to deal with from time to time. But if your headaches are ongoing, it’s important to see a health care professional.
At Pacific Coast Osteopathy we experts at treating ongoing headaches:
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Diagnosing what is triggering your headaches.
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Providing the most effective short term treatment.
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Creating a long-term management strategy.
What’s a common cause of headaches?
The list of things that cause headaches is as long as our arms! The most common types of headaches that we see are called “tension” headaches and “cervicogenic” headaches.
Tension Headaches
“Tension” headaches are triggered by long-term muscle tightness, either in the small muscles at the top of the neck or through the trapezius muscles that form part of the shoulders and neck.
Tension headaches tend to feel like a crushing pain as if you were wearing a baseball cap that’s a couple of sizes too small. They’re also usually the same on both sides of the head and tend to be worse at either the front or the back (or both!) as well.
“Cervicogenic” Headaches
“Cervicogenic” headaches are triggered by joint dysfunction in the upper neck. Usually this is a result of one or more of the joints getting stuck and they just need to be freed up. Cervicogenic headaches are almost always one-sided and have a stabbing quality to them around the temple.