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Headaches

Why Do I get headaches?

We understand that living with discomfort in these areas can be debilitating, affecting your daily life and overall well-being. Our goal is to provide you with valuable insights and effective therapies to alleviate your symptoms and enhance your quality of life.

Common Causes of Headaches

When it comes to head pain, understanding the underlying causes are essential. Headaches can occur due to Temporomandibular Disorder, migraines or sinus issues.  Symptoms of head pain may include throbbing or pulsating sensations, sensitivity to light or sound, nausea, and difficulty concentrating.

Headaches can have various causes. Here are some common factors that can contribute to head pain:

  • Temporomandibular Disorder (TMD). TMD stands for temporomandibular joint disorder. It refers to a condition that affects the temporomandibular joint (TMJ), which is the joint that connects your jawbone to your skull. TMD can cause pain and dysfunction in the jaw joint and the muscles that control jaw movement.

Common symptoms of TMD include:

  • Jaw pain: Pain or tenderness in the jaw joint, which may radiate to the face, ear, neck, and shoulders.
  • Jaw stiffness: Difficulty or discomfort while opening or closing the mouth, as well as a sensation of the jaw getting stuck or locked in position.
  • Clicking or popping sounds: A clicking, popping, or grating sound may occur when opening or closing the mouth.
  • Bite problems: Changes in the way the upper and lower teeth fit together when biting or chewing.
  • Headaches: TMD can contribute to tension headaches or migraines, often felt around the temples or at the back of the head.
  • Facial pain: Pain or tenderness in the face, especially in the cheeks or temples.
  • Muscle pain: Myofascial trigger points form when one clenches and grinds for an extended period of time, sometimes even years. Compression can overload muscles, which then spread symptoms in a referred pain pattern throughout the head and neck
  • Tension headaches: Tension headaches are the most common type of headaches and are often caused by muscle tension and stress.
  • Migraines: Migraines are severe headaches that can cause intense throbbing or pulsating pain with nausea, visual disturbances, light and sound sensitivity.
  • Sinus headaches: Sinus headaches occur when the sinuses become inflamed or congested due to allergies, sinus infections, or environmental irritants.

Treatment for Headaches

  • Specialized Manual Therapy: To restore full range of motion, and joint mobility and decrease pain in the jaw, neck, and upper back
  • Soft Tissue Mobilization: To decrease your facial swelling and pain
  • Dry Needling: May be recommended to address active trigger points of the head and neck muscles
  • Education: To decrease chronic headache and jaw pain through exercises and postural correction.  We may not realize the daily habits that are actually hurting us and overloading our joints and soft tissues
  • Postural Screening and Re-education: To decrease pressure in the jaw, face, neck, and shoulders
  • Facial Exercises: To decrease tension in the face, head, neck, and upper body
  • Breathing Exercises: To restore nasal diaphragmatic breathing patterns to reduce neck tension and chest or mouth breathing
  • Gait Training:  To improve and optimize our alignment during gait to reduce head and neck tension
  • Myofunctional Therapy:  Training the tongue to rest up gently on the palate, strengthening the tongue when it is weak, and positioning and training  it for optimal swallowing function will restore proper support to the throat airway and reduce stress to the head and neck
  • Rocabado TMJ Approach: To treat TMJ disc displacements, locked jaw, clicking and popping painful opening, and painful chewing.  This approach keeps the posture of the spine in mind to create the optimal position of the jaw bone to relate to the cranium.
  • Nasal Release Technique: To restore a good cranial bone movement and decompress the Cranium.  It has been effective in reducing headaches and neck pain.

  • ARP Direct Current:  To improve circulation and strength in the upper quarter muscles and neck.  It has been effective in reducing headaches and neck pain.

Contact us to make an appointment with one of our clinicians today.

Videos about Head and Neck Pain

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