Neck inflammation: an undeniable link to headache pain

I have a special insight when it comes to headaches.

Not only have I lived with migraines since my 20s, but I’m also a chiropractor who has treated numerous patients with both tension and migraine headaches.

And there’s one thing I can tell you without a doubt…

What’s happening in your neck plays a major role in your headache pain.

It’s a fact that I saw far too many medical doctors ignore in my patients and in myself.

Yet, it’s a fact that has finally been confirmed by undeniable research presented to the Radiological Society of North America.

Here’s what you need to know…

Neck inflammation and primary headaches

The research specifically focused on people suffering from what are known as primary headaches. These are tension headaches, as well as migraines – or a combination of both.

As a quick refresher, tension headaches are usually associated with stress and present as a tightening in the head with mild to moderately dull pain on both sides. Two out of every three adults deal with this type of headache.

Migraines on the other hand produce a severe, throbbing type of pain, which usually occurs on only one side or is worse on one side than the other. They are often accompanied by nausea and light sensitivity. And like me, a whopping 37 million people in the U.S. live with chronic migraine.

And whether you suffer from tension headaches or migraines, neck pain seems to go with them like peanut butter goes with jelly.

However, no one had ever objectively studied the link between inflammation of those muscles and the resulting headaches it causes. So scientists in Germany set out to correct that oversight…

The proof

Researchers specifically looked at the involvement of the trapezius muscles (large triangular-shaped muscles that connect from your upper neck to your middle back) in primary headache disorders using MRIs.

The prospective study included 50 participants who underwent 3D turbo spin-echo MRI of their bilateral trapezius muscles looking for inflammation and association with:

• The presence of neck pain
• Number of days with headache
• Number of myofascial trigger points in the muscles

All in all, the scientists found that the tension-type headache plus migraine group demonstrated the highest levels of inflammation in the trapezius muscles. This inflammation was also significantly associated with the number of headache days and the presence of neck pain.

“Our findings support the role of neck muscles in the pathophysiology of primary headaches,” said lead researcher, Nico Sollmann, M.D., Ph.D. “Therefore, treatments that target the neck muscles could lead to a simultaneous relief of neck pain, as well as headache.”

Caring for your neck to reduce headache pain

So how can you target those neck muscles to find headache relief?

Here are a few tips that I suggest.

#1 – Check your posture

Bad posture is often the root cause of neck problems. The truth is that we were born with a curve in our cervical spine that is vital for our health. However, things like spending too much time on our phones or at our computers, can greatly reduce or even reverse that curve.

Check yourself from the side. Your head should sit directly above your shoulders, which should be back and down. If you have a head-forward posture, your curve and the health of your neck muscles and spine are in trouble.

Luckily, you can improve your curve.

My favorite way to do this is to lay face-up with my head relaxed off the side of my bed, allowing my neck to stretch back. Be sure to start off slow at just two minutes and add one minute per day until you get to 15. Then do this daily.

#2 – Get a massage

Finding a good massage therapist who can address your myofascial trigger points can help greatly reduce your neck issues and even reduce your number of headache days.

You can also use trigger point massage at home to improve neck issues.

Find the tight spots (odds are you won’t have to look too hard).

Simply press your fingers firmly into the trigger points and repeat for three to five minutes. This can be done up to five times daily.

#3 – See a chiropractor

Chiropractors are trained to successfully address neck issues, including spinal misalignments, muscle pain and inflammation. They are very good at diagnosing the cause of your pain using orthopedic and neurological testing. And at times, they will send you for X-rays or MRI, especially if your condition was caused by trauma, or they suspect an underlying infection, tumor or osteoporosis.

Additionally, your chiropractor can look for and treat other conditions that could play into your headache symptoms, treating your body as a whole.

#4 – Supplement to beat inflammation

Finally, to reduce the fires of inflammation that fire up your headaches, be sure to add inflammation-fighting nutrients to your daily diet.

My colleague Virginia-Tims Lawson has put together a list of five of the best here, along with recommendations for using exercise to render pro-inflammatory molecules powerless.

Sources:

Common headaches tied to neck inflammation – ScienceDaily