Headaches
Find Long-Lasting Headache Relief
Do you get headaches every day? Have a headache that won’t go away? We understand headache pain can be more than an annoyance. While most headaches go away on their own or with OTC pain medication, severe or recurring headaches can be debilitating, and even incapacitating. But it doesn’t have to be that way. We believe one of the first steps in finding long-lasting headache pain relief is understanding your pain and what’s causing the pain in the first place.
What Is a Headache?
Simply put, a headache is pain in your head. But it’s more complicated than that. The pain comes from inflammation, tension, or changes in:
- The network of nerves in your scalp and face
- Muscles in your face, neck, and shoulders
- Blood vessels along the surface and at the base of your brain
Types of Headaches
There are many different types of headaches. This list is comprehensive, but may not include all types.
- Tension headache
- Cluster headache
- Sinus headache
- COVID headache
- Cervicogenic headache (muscle spasm headache)
- Thunderclap headache
- Migraine headache
- Hypertension headache
- Stress headache
- Constant headache
- Dehydration headache
- Headache during pregnancy
- Ice pick headache (cluster headache)
- Caffeine headache
Headache Symptoms
The location of your headache and the specific symptoms you have will help determine the type of headache you are suffering from, and inform the most appropriate treatment. Symptoms can include:
- Graudal onset
- Sudden onset
- Headache behind eyes
- Headache in back of head
- Headache on top of head
- Waking up with headaches
- Forehead headache
- Temple headache
- Dull pain
- Throbbing pain
- Mild to moderate pain
- Severe pain
Migraine vs Headache
A migraine is a type of headache, with symptoms you don’t generally get with a tension headache or sinus headache. Women are three times more likely than men to get migraine headaches. Nearly 75% of women who suffer from migraines say they coincide with the time of their menstrual period.
Symptoms include:
- Severe pain
- Pain on one side of the head
- Headache and nausea
- Light sensitivity
- Aura
- Flashing dots or lines in your field of vision
- Migraines usually signal their onset with the aura or flashing light, and can last for days.
Cluster Headaches
Cluster headaches also come with specific symptoms not generally seen with other types of headaches. They are uncommon, but men are more likely to be affected than women. They occur in cyclical periods, or clusters, and sufferers may have several headaches in one day.
Symptoms include:
- Severe pain like someone driving an ice pick into your eye
- Pain on one side of the head
- Redness of the eye on the affected side
- Excessive tearing on the affected side
- Restlessness
- Headaches happen at night after you’ve gone to bed
What Causes Headaches?
Headache causes vary based on the type of headache. If you look at the list under types of headaches, the name of some of the headaches will give you a clue as to the cause – for instance, a stress headache is caused by stress, and a hypertension headache is caused by high blood pressure.
While most headaches have an easily traceable cause, migraines have no one cause. If you get migraines, you may already know what triggers them. The exact cause of cluster headaches is unknown.
Common Headache Causes
Common headache causes include:
- Stress
- Tension
- High blood pressure (hypertension)
- Dehydration
- Hormonal changes
- Lack of sleep
- Teeth grinding
- Alcohol
- Illness such as a sinus infection or COVID
- Concussion or head injury
Common Migraine Triggers
While some migraine triggers are also known to cause other types of headaches, you will learn to identify and avoid your triggers if you suffer from migraines. Common triggers include:
- Stress
- Alcohol
- Chocolate
- Caffeine
- Hormonal changes
- Irregular sleep schedule
- Not enough sleep
- Changes in the weather
- Bright natural light and flickering fluorescent lights
- Strong smells
Headache FAQs
Q: When should I be worried about a headache?
A: You should be concerned if you have severe pain with your headache, or if you are getting headaches every day, or a headache that won’t go away. You should see a doctor if headaches are disrupting your life.
Q: Why do I wake up with a headache?
A: It depends. If you’re a man and you wake up with a headache an hour or two after going to bed, it could be a cluster headache. If you’re a woman who wakes up with a headache, it could be an oncoming migraine – studies show 4 am to 9 am is the most common time for onset.
If you have sleep apnea, that can also cause a headache when you wake up. And of course, if you had too much to drink the night before, you could wake up with a hangover headache.
Q: Can allergies cause headaches?
A: Yes. Environmental and food allergies can cause sinus headaches and trigger migraines. To avoid allergy-related headaches, you need to get your allergies under control.
How Cima Health Can Help
Cima Health provides restorative, lifelong solutions that target the root cause of your headaches. Your care will start out with a comprehensive evaluation to assess the pain. We will also ask questions about your health history, home life, lifestyle, and habits before making recommendations for an integrative plan of care. Together, we come up with conservative and alternative treatments that can help you live a healthy and active life.
Treating and preventing headaches involves several treatment modalities, all of which you can receive in one location. They include:
With all of these modalities, you may be able to:
- Reduce the intensity, frequency, and duration of your headaches.
- Decrease your medication use.
- Improve your functioning.
- Improve ease of motion in your neck.
- Improve your quality of life.
Chiropractic Care
After a thorough evaluation, the chiropractic care team may make precise adjustments of your neck, spine, and pelvis to bring everything into alignment. These adjustments are gentle, and will not cause you pain. Studies have shown chiropractic care to be effective in treating cervicogenic and tension headaches, as well as reduce the intensity and frequency of migraines.
In addition to chiropractic adjustments for your headaches, we may use other tools, including:
- Dry needling
- Class IV laser
- Shockwave therapy
Our Palm Beach Gardens chiropractors include:
Medical Care
You may also receive medical care in the form of Botox® injections if your headaches are due to teeth grinding. as appropriate. The doctor may also recommend IV hydration therapy to help with migraines. Our medical doctor works closely with the other members of your team to ensure you get the best and most appropriate care.
Physical Therapy (PT)
Physical therapy, can help you find headache pain relief, as well as reduce the frequency of your headaches. Treatments may include:
- Manual therapy
- Exercises
- Stretching program
- Dry needling
- Shockwave therapy
Our physical therapy team will show you a range of therapeutic exercises and self-massage techniques you can do at home or work as well as with the therapist.
Massage Therapy
Massage therapy can help with several types of headache pain, including tension headaches and migraines. The therapist can work on your head and facial muscles, neck muscles, and shoulder muscles, depending on the type of headache. Massage can help relieve the pain while you have an active headache, and regular massage can help relieve the stress and tension in your muscles, keeping headaches at bay.
Lifestyle Changes
Depending on the cause of your headaches, the doctors at Cima Health may make some recommendations for lifestyle changes. These can include:- Avoiding triggers
- Dietary changes
- Exercising more
Avoiding Triggers
The easiest way to reduce migraines and other headaches is to reduce your exposure to triggers. Reduce your stress level at work and at home, and consider meditation and yoga. Avoid bright lights and strong smells if those bring on migraines. Many workplaces will modify workplace rules to help their employees stay healthy.Dietary Changes
Making some dietary changes can reduce the risk of headaches. If there are certain foods that trigger migraines, cut those out of your diet. Reduce or eliminate your use of alcohol if it causes headaches. Our functional medicine team can work with you to develop a nutrition plan that helps reduce your headaches and can also help you lose weight, if weight is a factor. Eating a healthy diet will help you feel better overall.Exercising more
Getting physically fit and strengthening your muscles can help prevent some types of headaches. You’ll sleep better if you exercise daily. Improved sleep leads to less stress and tension – both causes of headaches. Our physical fitness team can also help you get rid of hypertension headaches by helping you lose weight, which will naturally lower your blood pressure. We will develop an exercise program tailored to your capabilities and goals. By making some lifestyle changes and getting regular chiropractic adjustments, you can help reduce the occurrence of headaches. Team up with the providers at Cima Health to find restorative, lifelong solutions.Read What Our Patients Have to Say
Book an Appointment
If you’re looking for an integrative approach to treatment for problem headaches, book an appointment today. One of our chiropractors will do a comprehensive examination to get to the root cause of your pain and develop an integrative plan of care to relieve your pain and inspire you to achieve whole-body wellness.
