How Migraines are often Neck Headaches in Disguise(and what to do about it)

You know the feeling, the lights getting painful, things seeming too loud, the stomach feeling off. There’s a creeping ache at the base of your skull that creeps up and over the top of your head. 

Sometimes it happens on the right, sometimes on the left, and sometimes it just sits behind one of your eyes. You’ve been told by your doctor that it’s a migraine, they might have even given you medication for it. 

If you’re like most people, you don’t like how it makes you feel. 

You definitely don’t like having to rely on it just to get through the day. 

You wonder, could your posture be causing your migraine? Could your neck be causing it? 

If you’re like many that we’ve helped with migraines at our physiotherapy clinic in midtown Tallahassee, you’ve never really had those sneaking suspicions answered. 

In this article, we’ll give you a couple of simple tests to see if your migraines are really neck headaches(also called cervicogenic headaches) in disguise. Then I’ll teach you a simple stretch to start treating your migraine(or neck headache).  Then we’ll get into helping you find natural relief for a migraine. 

What is a cervicogenic headache

Cervicogenic headaches are often misdiagnosed as migraines because they share a lot of the same symptoms. Light sensitivity, aura, sound sensitivity, nausea, and intensity. 

They can be associated with several triggers like posture, foods, allergens, and stress. 

One reason is because the area of your brain that migraines come from and cervicogenic headaches come from are very close to each other. In addition, tension at the very top of your neck can impact the areas of your brain that are responsible for migraines as well and while you are having a true migraine, your neck might have been the trigger. 

It can also be that the tension in the back of your neck is squeezing several nerves that go up and over the back of your head. This irritates the nerve causing it to “wake up”.  And when a nerve wakes up, your alarm system takes notice and often pain is the result. 

How to tell if your neck might be causing a headache

One of the first tests that I do to see if the neck is possibly causing a headache is to gently press into the muscles at the base of the skull. 

If you feel for the pointy part of your spine, come up to the area of your neck where you can’t feel the pointy part and go about an inch sideways, you’ll find the “headache fusebox”. 

If you press lightly there and the muscles are tight and achy or if you provoke a headache with pressure to them, you are very likely dealing with a cervicogenic headache. 

How to start treating Migraines Naturally (and also neck/cervicogenic headaches)

Step 1: Interrupt the headache

If you’re at home, lay down on your bed without a pillow. Try belly breathing(diaphragmatic breathing) in a 6:6 pattern. That is 6 seconds slow inhale, 6 seconds slow exhale. Do this for 5 minutes. 

Step 2: Gentle Stretch

Staying on your bed, gently push the back of your head into the bed. If you feel the back of your head, you’ll feel a bump of bone. Pretend that is a button and you’re pushing it into the bed. While doing this, give a slight chin tuck. If your headache is on one side more than the other, turn your head slightly in that direction. 

Step 3: Reset the Headache Fusebox

In between the stretch, gently massage the muscles at the base of your skull to start easing the tension. 

Step 4: Take the next step

Even if this movement pattern didn’t stop the headache immediately or didn’t take enough of the edge off, it doesn’t mean that there aren’t natural solutions. Your alarm system may have been too sensitized to feel that movement was safe. Whether you noticed improvement or not, it might not be abad idea to speak to a specialist. WE offer that for free, you can book time with one of our Doctors of Physiotherapy here. 

Confused about where to start? Book a call from the comfort of your home or office and  on your schedule with one of our Neck Pain Specialists. You can schedule your call here.  Need help now? Come by and talk with one of our Doctors of Physical Therapy at no charge. We offer FREE consultations, which give you the opportunity to come in and meet us and see for yourself how we can help you.

Here are just a few of the things you will learn in one of our free consultation:

• What is the underlying cause of your pain? (hopefully nothing too serious!)

• Roughly, how long will it take to fix the problem?

• What to do to help – which doesn’t include painkillers, resting or surgery etc.

• What other, natural, drug free methods are there to speed up recovery alongside treatment?

Our consultations are great for anyone that may be “unsure” if physio is right for them, and they give you the opportunity to ask questions and see for yourself if we can help you.

If you’d like one of our limited free consultation sessions, please click here to schedule your free consultation or CALL us on 850-765-2779 to make a no-obligation enquiry.

About the Author

Dr. Brandon is the owner and a Physio at Body Mechanix Physiotherapy and Fitness. Four of his favorite people call him daddy while he's been married to his other favorite person for 23 years. He enjoys teaching martial arts and is a Mestrando in Capoeira while in the mornings, he can be found working out with the guys in F3 around town.  He's the author of 4 pain relief guides for sciatica, low back, shoulder, and knees and the lead contributor to the Active Tallahassee Blog.