Types of Headaches

Tension headaches are mild to moderate discomfort, felt on both sides of the head and are typically described as a pressing or tightening on the head. These types of headaches can last minutes to days and may or may not occur frequently (chronic vs episodic). These headaches are distinguished as they do not exhibit many of the migrainous features: photophobia (sensitive to light), phonophobia (sensitive to sounds), or nausea.

The treatment for this kind of headache includes hands-on manual therapy by a health professional (physiotherapist, chiropractor, massage therapy, etc) and typically respond well to mobilizations of the cervical spine exercises focusing on the neck and postural corrections.

 

Cervicogenic headaches are those that originate from the structures of the neck and upper shoulder region. Neck pain usually accompanies these headaches, and have many overlapping symptoms with common neck disorders: a reduced cervical range of motion, and tenderness in the musculature in the neck and temporal regions.

These types of headaches respond very positively to manual therapy treatment, including cervical or thoracic manipulation and mobilizations, and exercises focusing on neck stability and strengthening.

Migraine headaches are one of the most disabling headaches one can experience. They typically are recurrent attacks, lasting 4-72 hours. Migraines are typically one-sided, moderate to severe pain, and aggravative by activity. The most distinguishing features of migraines compared to other headaches are photophobia, phonophobia, or nausea.

Treating these type of headaches are very difficult and typically include seeking professional help from a medical doctor for proper medications or treatment strategies.

Manual therapy can help relieve some of the severity of the symptoms, however, does not respond as well as the other types of headaches. Health Bound Health Network offers a multimodal approach to care. We offer a variety of professionals and treatments that have been shown to be effective in the management of headaches. If you ever experience a headache, do not hesitate to reach out to our team to help!