Dealing with chronic headaches or migraines can be debilitating. You may feel you have exhausted all your options: medications, diet changes, lifestyle adjustments, and more naps in dark, quiet rooms than you can count. But what if physical therapy could help you manage and even overcome headaches?
Learn more about physical therapy for headaches. If you’re ready to schedule a consultation with Exchange Physical Therapy Group for physical therapy in Edgewater today.
How Can Physical Therapy Relieve Headaches?
Physical therapy involves manual manipulation of certain areas of the body connected to the source of your pain. It also consists of specialized treatments that target and relieve pain, such as ultrasound therapy and dry needling. A physical therapist can help you recognize the cause of your headaches and make specific changes to prevent them.
These are a few ways physical therapy can help you better manage headaches.
1. Addressing the Underlying Cause of the Headaches
Chronic headaches and migraines can have multiple causes, and their sources can be challenging to pinpoint. A physical therapist will help you explore potential causes of your headaches, such as:
- Poor posture, straining the muscles and nerves around your neck and shoulders and producing pain in the head or surrounding areas
- Muscle tension, whether due to stress, overuse, or physical activity, which leads the muscles around the neck and shoulders to feel tight
- Limited range of motion in the neck and upper back, often due to injury
Once they understand the cause, they can provide targeted physical therapy for headaches. For example, they might help with posture correction by teaching you exercises to strengthen muscles and improve spinal alignment. Or they might use massage or manual therapy for migraines caused by tension.
2. Reducing Stress in the Neck and Shoulders
Contrary to popular belief, not all headaches stem from a problem or condition in the head. Instead, they result from pain or nerve-related issues in the neck and shoulders, which radiates to the head.
For headaches caused by pain in the neck, physical therapy offers effective cervicogenic headache treatment. Manual therapy, manipulation, and massage of the neck and shoulders can relieve tension in these areas, improving the source of the headache.
Reducing stress in the neck and shoulders also encourages you to relax the shoulders rather than involuntarily tensing them, mitigating future headaches. Whether neck tension was the primary source of your headache or not, relieving stress in this area can likely help relieve head pain and other areas of discomfort.
3. Developing a Treatment Plan To Improve Future Headaches
While massages and manual therapy can help relieve symptoms of headaches, one session won’t stop them from recurring. Your physical therapist will develop a treatment plan to help you prevent or address future headaches.
This plan may involve going to physical therapy several times a week for the first few weeks, then tapering off the appointment frequency as your symptoms improve. It may also include at-home therapies you can do to manage symptoms.
For example, your therapist can teach you headache relief exercises to perform at home whenever you feel a migraine coming on. They may also create a schedule of exercises you can complete between appointments to help relieve tension and improve your posture.
Over time, these exercises and lifestyle changes could prevent the headaches from coming back altogether.
Schedule an Appointment for Headache Physical Therapy Today
Managing headaches may feel like an impossible task, but physical therapy often poses an effective treatment for this issue. At Exchange Physical Therapy Group, we offer targeted physical therapy for headaches and migraines.
Schedule an initial physical therapy appointment to get started. We will evaluate your symptoms and overall health, narrow down the source of your headaches, and create a personalized treatment plan.Call us today at (201) 377-1510 or reach out online to schedule an initial appointment with our physical therapists.
