Headache Management

Millions of people suffer from migraines and chronic headaches. As a common complaint worldwide, some headaches can be debilitating leading to a major decrease in quality of life. Seeking help from a pain management doctor may be your only chance at finding relief. Not many people realize that physical therapy is an effective treatment option for headaches and migraines. Clearway has certified physical therapists that specialize in headache management. Our treatment centers utilize physical therapy to treat headaches caused by musculoskeletal problems, reduced range of motion in the neck, poor posture, and tight muscles in the shoulder region.

What Causes Headaches

Headaches are specific to each individual, therefore, there is no single approach that Clearway takes to treating migraines and headaches. Our physical therapy team is certified in headache management to help you find relief and get back to living your life. We evaluate each patient to determine if their headaches have an origin in neck/cervical spine tissues. We will then treat them using a multidisciplinary approach to relieve pain and prevent the headaches from continuing as well as teach them strategies to manage migraines.

Headaches and migraines can commonly be misdiagnosed. The pain can come from a variety of sources including tissues in the cervical spine. Tissue dysfunction in the neck region can also manifest itself as TMJ or jaw pain, facial pain, vision or auditory sensitivity, or sinus problems. We perform a cervical spine evaluation to determine if this is the source of your headache/face/migraine symptoms.

Other patients may not experience headaches or migraines, but exhibit symptoms of neck pain that include soreness, stiffness or tension in the neck, ringing in the ears, blurry vision, watery eyes and nasal symptoms not treated with antibiotics.

There is no single approach we take to treating headaches and migraines. The first step is to schedule a consultation and diagnosis to evaluate the cervical spine and determine if it is the source of pain. The goal of headache management is to reduce stress and tension to the involved tissue(s) by restoring mobility, improving muscle balance and posture, as well as identifying activities that contribute to the problem.

How Can Physical Therapy Help My Headaches?

Your physical therapist will locate the source of your headaches and will then formulate a treatment plan for you. There are many ways a PT can help you including manipulative therapy, specific exercises and they will take the time to educate you on how to avoid triggers. Manipulative therapy involves hands-on techniques used to loosen up tight muscles, alleviate joint stiffness, increase range of motion for head and neck, decrease muscle tension and improve your overall muscle performance. Your PT will also use specific exercises that are proven to lower pain. These exercises will lower inflammation and promote healing. These will include in-office and at-home exercises targeted to your specific problem area. There are many triggers that your physical therapist will help you identify. Common triggers include diet, sleep, bad posture, and stress. Once identified, then you can work towards finding an effective strategy to help you relieve symptoms.

Headache Management