Neck pain is an extremely common and restricting condition that can affect the large majority of Australians. In combination with this, headaches can be a major factor for increasing neck pain or causing the pain in the first place. Headaches themselves can be categorized into primary and secondary. Put simply, primary headaches are conditions that are by themselves disorders whereas secondary headaches are conditions that come second to an underlying condition or as a result of something else. When this happens, the muscles around our head and neck can become quite restricted, sore and tense. The good news is that your osteopath can help you manage these. Here are several things you can do to help improve your headaches and neck pain:
Hands-on treatment: seeing your osteopath for some hands-on manual therapy can help lessen the tension and/or pain in your head and neck, improve motion and mobility through these areas and reduce inflammation.
Exercises: prescribing exercises to help take tension off the neck, improve motion and tension through these areas are things your osteopath can do to help your condition. Here are several exercises that may help your neck pain.
Advice and education: knowing exactly what might be causing the headaches, how long it might take you to resolve, what can be done to best manage the headache and why the tightness or restriction through your neck may be causing the headache or dysfunction through other areas are all things your osteopath can provide to help best manage your condition.
