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Headaches

"15% of people are taking pain relieving medication for headaches, every day."
-Dr Ian Jalsion, Chiropractor

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What is a headache?

A headache refers to a painful feeling in any part of the head or face.  There are many different types of headaches with different causes for each.  The location, character (sense of pain – dull, achy or throbbing) and intensity of a headache all give information about your type of headache.  Headaches are categorised into either primary or secondary.  Primary headaches include migraines and tension headaches.  Secondary headaches are headaches caused by another underlying condition and are a symptom or side effect of the underlying problem.  Cervicogenic headaches are a typical example of secondary headaches.

Types of Headaches

Tension-type headache

 
Tension-type headache is the most common form of primary headache. Tension-type headache typically presents as pain that is felt on both sides of the head, akin to having a tightening band on your head. They are generally mild to a moderate intensity which causes minimal disruption to your daily routine. Tension-type headaches do not usually cause nausea but may cause sensitivity to light or sound. Episodes of tension-type headache generally last between 30 minutes to seven days. Tension-type headaches can be categorised into episodic and chronic. A person with episodic tension-type headache suffers between 1 to 14 days every month, while a person with chronic tension-type headache suffers for more than 15 days every month.
An old lady wearing a pinky brown jumper is sitting holding her head, with a headache. She is sitting in a lounge resting against the arm rest.

Migraine

Migraines are characterised by moderate to severe headaches and nausea. Migraines are the second most common primary headache.  It is more common in women than men, which is thought to be due to hormonal factors. You usually begin to experience migraines between the age of 20 and 40.  However, some cases may affect people outside this age range, including children.

Diagnosis of migraine requires there to be:- 

(a) pain with at least two of the following characteristics:

one-sided head pain, moderate to severe intensity pain, throbbing pain, aggravated pain intensity with movement

(b) at least one of the following associated symptoms:-

nausea or vomiting, sensitivity to light, sensitivity to noise

(c) headache lasting between 4 and 72 hours.

 

Holographic image of person with right side headache. The person is holding their head with their right hand.

Other symptoms that may be experienced include:

Sensitivity to smell, visual disturbances such as bright lines, flashing lights, blind spots, difficulty concentrating, feeling unwell, problems with articulation and coordination, diarrhoea, neck and shoulder stiffness, tingling, pins and needles, numbness or vertigo

The causes of migraines are currently not completely understood.  However, common triggers for a migraine can be established.

Cervicogenic headache
 
Are a common cause of chronic headaches that are often misdiagnosed.  You will experience moderate to severe pain, usually on one side of your head.  However, maybe felt in more than one region of the head or face at once.  You will experience reduced neck movement and dull pain in your upper back or shoulder.  The pain begins typically in your upper neck and is a non-throbbing type of pain.  Cervicogenic headaches are from problems in your cervical spine and neck muscles.
Young Asian female sitting holding the left side of her head with one hand. Representing a Headache. She is wearing a light grey jumper. She has neck pain and a headache.

How to Fix and manage headaches?

We treat cervicogenic, migraine and tension-type headaches at Five Dock Osteopathic and Chiropractic. Our approach is to go to the root cause of the problem.
 
Headache Pain Treatment
 
Treating acute and chronic headache pain is something we do plenty of.  After diagnosing the root cause of your headache, the first step is to relax any associated soft tissue tightness.  This is the key to a quick decrease in your pain.  We achieved this through targeted soft tissue massage and mobilisations of the critical muscle and joint groups.  Our unique approach is to change the position you are in while being treated. This dramatically impacts your symptoms. Lying down is not always the best approach to start with headache pain.  We will assess your symptoms and change your treatment to maximise your result. 
 
 
 
Chronic Headache Pain Treatment
 
Chronic headaches need a planned treatment approach.  If you treat too aggressively, you can trigger a headache.   We have refined our treatment to apply measured pressure to relieve your symptoms and not aggravate your headaches. Like all chronic pain, chronic headaches cause a change in your brain (alteration of the sensory processing by the brain leading to amplification of pain).  Five Dock Osteopathic and Chiropractic has found that the key to fixing such pain is improved neck movement and retraining your neck, upper back and shoulder blade stability.  This, in turn, retrains your brain, so it no longer amplifies pain.  
 

Headache Pain Treatment Methods

  • We have several unique methods for treating all kinds of headaches:
     
    • In treating headache pain, we look at three main areas.  Firstly, the front and back of your neck, as the restricted movement of your neck, creates headaches.  Secondly, your shoulder blade, as most likely, you are misusing your shoulder blade.  This creates incorrect neck and shoulder blade movement and stresses the joints, muscles, tendons and ligaments.  Your neck and shoulder blades are the foundation for the correct movement of your head.  This leads to the third region, your head.  There are numerous muscles attaching to the bones making up your head.  We work on the muscles of your head, creating a release in tension.  We need to address all these joints and muscles as they work together to create a smooth, safe movement for you with no headaches. 
     
    • We take the time to establish why you have headaches and equip you with the knowledge and skills to prevent headaches throughout every stage of life.  Lifestyle adjustments such as exercise, diet, stress management and attention to posture will all be discussed to provide you with the most help.

What Makes Our Treatment Of Headaches Unique

We have our own unique style of massage developed to complement our adjustments. We are experts at tracing the cause of headache pain to its source.  Our treatment includes the front of the body (neck, chest, shoulder and arm muscles) and back (cervical spine, scapula, shoulder and arm muscles). This approach focuses on you as a whole person, not just a region in isolation.  This brings you short-term relief from pain and lasting improvements to your health and well-being. Our adjustments all use traction, making them smooth and gentle on your body. We work with you to devise personalised functional exercises that you can use to stretch and strengthen your neck (deep neck flexors are a key) and build your postural stability—decreasing the stress on your body.

What type of headache pain do you have?

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About

Five Dock Osteopathic & Chiropractic is located in Canada Bay, in Sydney’s Inner West. Servicing suburbs including Burwood, Croydon, Drummoyne, Five Dock, Haberfield, Concord, Abbotsford, Chiswick, Leichhardt, Wareemba, Russell Lea, Summer Hill, Strathfield.

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Wednesday, Friday                   7AM – 5PM

Saturday                                      7AM – 2PM

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212 Great North Road, Five Dock, NSW 2046

Phone: 02 9712 1736

Fax      : 02 9712 1736

Email  : [email protected]

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