Headaches / A Myriad of Causes

  Identifying the cause(s) of headaches, ranging from chronic, unrelenting headaches to acute ones, is a challenge faced by M.D.s and Doctors of Chiropractic alike.

There are many different types of headaches, and multiple causes. Nutritional issues should be considered---food triggers may be involved, in which a person gets headaches when they ingest certain foods or food additives. 

Stress, both biomechanical (e.g. postural stress, repetitive motion, injuries) and emotional / psychological, is often part of the picture. Tension headaches are among the most common.

Aberrances of the cranial rhythms is another frequent occurrence closely related to headaches. When I balance a patient’s cranial rhythms, their headaches often disappear.

Sleep apnea is also now recognized as another source of headaches, in which abnormal proportions of oxygen & carbon dioxide result from interruptions in breathing.  

Head-Forward Postures

  Our head should be in line with the center of gravity of our body. Any position of the head that is forward of our center of gravity gets us in trouble.

For example, “craning” the neck / head to look upward / forward toward a TV or computer monitor, or tilting the head backward to see a monitor through the near-focus part of bifocals, is a common cause of neck pain, tension, and headache. 

This posture causes the occiput (the bone across the back of the head, just above the spine) to be stressed inferiorly. This inferiority may be more on one side or the other (unilateral) or global (bilateral). The result is tension across the back of the neck and head.

Working at a desk, at a kitchen countertop, etc., with the head bent forward of the body’s center of gravity leads to similar problems of neck & upper back pain, tension, and headache. 

Note also that when we are sitting, if we lean forward from our hips, our head in this position  is again out in front of our center of gravity; we immediately begin to feel the stress in our neck. Be mindful of this; rest your back against the chair, feel your head comfortably in line with your center of gravity.