So You've got Tension Headaches?

Description

For some individuals, the concept of a headache is only something felt after a few too many tequilas the night before. For other individuals, headaches are something they experience on a daily basis.

If you are a sufferer of headaches, particularly tension headaches, you know how the experience goes. You may wake up with a headache that disappears after your first cup of coffee. You’ve tried all the fancy medical pillows and advanced mattresses but the only thing that works is that beautiful caffeine. The only problem is your headaches are waiting for you at your work desk. You know that posture has something to do with them and the ergonomics division at your workplace knows you by your first name.

Raising your monitor might spare you an hour. Heck, you’ve even tried those crazy physio-ball chairs. While you can stave them off for a bit, nothing prevents them!

Symptoms

Tension headaches are felt in a headband distribution across your skull. They start in the back and wrap around the sides of your temple. What differentiates tension headaches from migraines or cluster headaches is that they feature less of a neurological component. They are almost entirely musculoskeletal. Often, base of the skull pain is felt along with the tension headache.

Etiology

Tension headaches are caused by compression at the C0-C1-C2 vertebral levels. Compression at these joint levels will cause sclerotogenous pain that refers UP into the back of the head and skull. While there are no vertebral discs at these levels, compression will irritate the facet joints, causing pain.

The reason for the compression is likely to be adhesion to the suboccipital muscle group. This muscle group connects the base of the skull to the top of the neck and is one of the most frequently adhered muscle groups in the human body. This will need to be confirmed through functional testing and diagnostic palpation.

What to expect

Home treatment

Because these structures are so small, there is not much that can be done at home to stretch these tissues. In rare cases, you may have success with doing quadruped chin retractions. However, if you do not get relief in 4-6 weeks, please seek medical help as we don’t want your vertebrae to develop arthritis.

Our intervention

At Wildcard, we can give you a functional grade, remove the adhesion, and watch the grade improve. In most cases, removing adhesion can reduce the frequency and intensity of tension headaches up to 50% permanently. The good news is that by fixing this spot, we can also improve neck and trapezius pain.

Schedule an appointment

At Wildcard Spine and Sport, we specialize in fixing pain that’s lasted longer than six months, even if you’ve seen two or more providers. We are the only practitioners in the five boroughs certified to diagnose and remove adhesion. Click the button below or call the office today at 917-908-0055.

Book an appointment