Do you ever wonder if there is another option to using medications when it comes to finding headache and migraine relief?
You aren’t alone. The majority of people using medications to control their symptoms find themselves on a merry-go-round of short-term relief, and ongoing episodes of headache and migraine. And far from getting progressively better, many find their condition continues to grow worse over time.
If left without treating the cause, your condition can spiral out of control, requiring time off work, stressing relationships, and stopping you doing the things you enjoy like playing sport and persuing hobbies.
Imagine what life would look like if you could get predictable, lasting relief from your symptoms if your practitioner could clearly explain the cause of your symptoms and teach you how to manage your life and get back in control.
I believe that if you are taking medication for headache or migraine, and not getting progressively better, you aren’t treating the cause. Treat the cause and you will get results.
So, if you have ever wondered what could be causing your headache or migraine, what you’re about to read might just change the way you think about managing your condition.
When you feel pain, messages have travelled along nerves from a sensor in the body to the brain, and if they are intense enough you feel pain. Think of this like a telephone signal travelling a long distance before being received. Different parts of the body send messages along different phone lines, and depending on where the signal comes from we can locate the problem.
In the case of your head all these messages travel through an ‘exchange’ in the top of the spinal cord before reaching your brain. Unfortunately, the messages from the muscles, joints, discs, ligaments etc. in the top three levels of your neck go through this same ‘exchange’.
In simple terms this can lead to a case of ‘getting your wires crossed’, and the brain thinks messages from the upper neck are coming from the head, leading to headache.
Now this is a big simplification of the science involved, but it is helpful in understanding the mechanism involved in the neck causing headache and migraine.
So how do you know if this explanation is the case for you?
In our experience, 3-4 sessions of our systematic assessment and treatment of the upper neck based on the Watson Headache approach, will rule your neck in or out as the main factor in your problem. In fact, 80% of our clients get last relief and control of their symptoms, because they finally understand and manage the cause of their condition, and don’t just treat the symptoms.
This approach has been developed over 25 years of clinical experience, and is supported by clinical research. If you would like to ask us any questions about physiotherapy in the treatment and management of headache and migraine we are always happy to talk over the phone or via private message on Facebook. Also, visit watsonheadache.com for some further reading and education.