Suffering from Headaches?

Headaches behind the eye or at the back of your head? These are often known as tension and cervicogenic Headaches (HA). HA’s occur for numerous reasons, whether we are dehydrated, have been looking at a screen all day, hormonal changes and if there is something sinister going on. Physios will usually deal with HA’s that are associated with biomechanical dysfunctions. Whether you’re sitting down or looking at a screen for prolonged periods of time, your neck can become tight. Muscles attaching to the skull are usually the ones helping hold up your head as you angle it down towards the screen. The Rectus Capitis Posterior Major muscle helps to extend the head backwards and rotate the head. Looking at simple physics, if your head is angled down regularly throughout the day looking at a screen, then this muscle will be working hard to hold the head up, essentially losing a game of “tug a war”. Over time these muscles become tired and overworked, contributing to a headache.

To combat this, management includes manual therapy to the sub-occipital muscles, mobilisation of the upper cervical spine and then restoration of correct biomechanics to reduce the effects of poor movement patterns. Helping reduce HA can take time but after a few sessions we should be able to see some improvement in either the intensity or frequency of the headache.