Headaches - we've all had them. Did you know that not all headaches are created equal? Some types of headaches are caused by tight muscles or irritated joints in the neck and can be helped with PT. The four most common types of headaches are:

• Migraines

  • Often experienced in recurring episodes with visual or sensory symptoms

  • Can last from a few hours to a few days

  • Many experience sensitivity to light, sound, and/or smell

  • Often accompanied by an aura (a visual, sensory, or speech disturbance prior to the headache)

  • Typically felt as pulsating pain on one side of the head and are aggravated by activity

• Cluster Headaches

  • Experienced as a severe headache on one side of the head

  • Last 15 minutes to 3 hours, happen in clusters from weeks to months

  • Pain felt behind the eye, with eye watering and nasal congestion

• Tension Headaches

  • The most common type of headache, experienced by 30-78% of people

  • Typically felt as "pressing or tightening pain" of mild to moderate intensity on both sides of the head

  • Can last minutes to days

  • Not worsened with activity

  • Often come along with increased tightness in neck muscles

  • Can be improved with PT!

• Cervicogenic Headaches

  • Pain felt on one side of the head and/or at the base of the skull

  • Can be associated with neck pain, dizziness, or jaw pain

  • Caused by tightness in the neck/shoulder muscles or irritation of the upper neck joints

  • Can be improved with PT!

If you're having headaches, reach out to a PT to see if manual therapy and targeted exercises may be able to help!

-Meghan Hom, DPT

Sources:

• Headache Classification Committee of the International Headache Society (IHS) The International Classification of Headache Disorders, 3rd edition. Cephalgia. 2013; 33 (9): 629-808.