Neck Pain And Headache – Take A Physical Approach

The two big causes of neck pain and headache that I’ve seen in practice are muscle tension with trigger points and low blood sugar.

Of course, there are always medical conditions that will cause neck pain and headache, which will need treatment by your chiropractor or medical physician. Some of these are listed below:

* Arthritis
* Whiplash injury
* Traumatic fall (hit head)
* Disk herniation
* Pool dive with no water in pool (requires an ambulance)
* Brain tumor
* Heavy metal toxicity
* Allergies

Physical Approach to Neck Pain and Headache

I remember one female patient who called and said she had the worst headache and couldn’t move her neck in certain directions. “Is there something you can do?”

I asked if she felt any hard lumps or pea-sized knots in the muscles surrounding her neck. She said yes, there were at least three. That’s when I knew that her neck pain and headache were coming from muscle tension and trigger points.

When she came into my office, I performed the usual orthopedic tests to rule out any other more serious disease. All the other tests were negative and we began the process of locating the trigger points in her neck and shoulders. She had at least 12 of them!

How Muscle Tension Causes Neck Pain and Headache

Muscle tension in the neck and shoulders prevents the blood circulation from getting to the parts of the neck. The longer the circulation to the bones and joints of the neck is affected, the more easily it is to develop neck pain and headaches at the drop of a hat. You move in a ‘wrong’ direction and then neck pain and a headache comes on quickly. It usually lasts for up to a few hours.

These trigger points in the muscle are thought to be composed of lactic acid buildup. When muscles move, they produce lactic acid as a waste product. However, because of the lack of circulation, these waste products can’t be removed sufficiently. The result is trigger points that grow bigger and bigger. Sometimes, they’ll grow as large as golf balls.

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