Can Headaches Be Stopped for Good? Yes, They Can!

One of the common conditions I encounter at our clinic is headaches—many types. While the headaches themselves can be very complex with a multitude of causes and factors, fortunately, the solution, in most cases, isn’t very hard at all.

Why Do You Get Headaches?

The causes of headaches are plentiful. They can be divided into structural causes (such as neck and jaw problems), and physiological causes (such as hormonal imbalance and dietary causes—including food sensitivities with the most common ones identified as gluten and dairy). Here in Silicon Valley, we are fortunate to have many grocery stores catering to food sensitivities, making it easier to avoid certain problematic foods.

Let’s discuss the structural causes a little more in detail:

Headaches and Your Neck

One of the most common causes of persistent headaches is due to the upper bones in the neck becoming misaligned and tilted. This can occur secondary to any kind of injury such as a car accident, sports injury, fall, etc. It also occurs as a result of poor posture. Sitting for long hours at a stretch in front of the computer, especially with poor posture, can lead to cumulative deficits within the spine, especially the neck. People lose the natural “C” curvature of their neck and it becomes straighter, or even worse, they develop a reverse “C” curve.

If you visualize what someone’s neck looks like when they are texting on their phone, you’ll know what a reversed “C” curve looks like. (See image below)

These changes cause additional pressure on the first two bones at the top of the neck, the pressure they are not designed for. They have to bear the brunt of the entire weight of our heavy skulls. To relieve the pressure, people tend to tilt their heads sideways and this eventually causes misalignment of the vertebra (bones of the spine). Did you know that the typical adult skull weighs 10-12 pounds?

Once these bones become misaligned, they tend to compress various pain cells within the upper spinal cord. These cells not only control pain in the head, but blood pressure, breathing rate, and more. So it is not unusual for the patient to develop headaches as a result, in addition to high blood pressure, heart palpitations, and more.

This problem is typically not picked up through an MRI. Rather, clinical palpation and muscle testing performed in a thorough physical therapy exam can lead to the answers.

Headaches and Your Jaw

There is a correlation between headaches and chronic jaw (TMJ) problems, but it is often missed. TMJ issues are common in today’s lifestyle. Stress is touted by many to be one of the causative factors. It is more prevalent in men than in women. Grinding, clenching, and clicking at the jaw are some of the most common causes. Most often people tend to go to doctors when they are in pain, not necessarily due to clenching or grinding. Clenching and grinding are notorious for wear and tear of the teeth but they also cause excessive spasm and tightness within the jaw muscles. If this spasm and tightness are not relieved, it causes a tilt in the jaw bone also called the mandible. This results in a tilt in the head to relieve the pressure from the jaw, another cause of neck problems and headaches. So you can see how a chronic problem of the jaw can cause secondary issues leading to headaches.

Symptoms Vary Considerably

The symptoms of headaches are quite varied in nature. Some people who we see at our Root Cause Medical Clinic complain of headaches all over their heads and forehead. Others complain of pain localized on one side of the skull, whereas others may have pulsations behind their eyes. Some complaint of pain at the base of the skull, while others complain that the pain radiates down the neck.

Similarly, the frequency and intensity also vary. Some have such severe pain it affects their lifestyle and work, whereas others can function with their headaches as the pain level is more tolerable. Frequency also varies from every day to weekly, monthly, or more sporadic intervals.

Headache relief, while often temporary, can come from sleep, medications, or a darkened room. But amidst all this variety I have rarely seen headaches disappear by themselves. They have to be treated before any changes can be made.

It is crucial to distinguish the true root cause underlying the headache. Is it purely structural, systemic, or a combination? Here at Root Cause Medical Clinic, where we specialize in diagnosing the root cause of headaches, we frequently find a combination of factors creating the problem.

The good news is most headaches are reversible and curable, despite the length of time the individual has suffered with them.

How to Begin

We begin with a comprehensive evaluation performed by a Medical Doctor and Physical Therapist, both on our team, who together determine if upper neck problems, TMJ issues, dietary, and/or hormonal factors are present. The latter, hormonal imbalance, is addressed by our medical doctor and clinical nutritionists. Sometimes, X-rays may have to be taken to look closely at the upper spine. Once the problem(s) is identified, it needs to be treated accordingly from a root cause perspective – in other words, we won’t prescribe pain relievers.

Physical therapy treatment, my focus today, comprises extensive manual therapy, cranial work, and treatment to the upper spine. Muscles of the head, neck, jaw, and shoulders are also addressed. Such work is effective in relieving and reducing pain.

Following the manual work, specific exercises must be done to strengthen the deep neck muscles, shoulder blade muscles, along with other postural correction exercises. Electrical modalities such as ultrasound and electrical stimulation may be used to assist with pain relief, but these are considered adjunctive therapy. The main thrust is to locate the cause of the headaches and treat them successfully, whether it is a problem with the upper spine, jaw, or something else.

The point I’d like to stress is headaches CAN be treated successfully. There is a reason a body creates headaches and once the reason or root cause is isolated, they can be gotten rid of for good – and that’s a very nice thing!

You Don’t Have to Continue Suffering

Are you suffering from headaches? Do you know anyone who is? Whether they are stress headaches, tension headaches, migraines, or headaches of unknown origin, we can likely figure out why you are suffering from them.