Health blog Category: headaches
How Physical Therapy can Help with Frequent Headaches
With people working from home, there has been a drastic increase in the number of people suffering from frequent and chronic headaches. One fact that many people do not know is that physical therapy can help treat them!
There are several causes of headaches, but many are being caused by tight neck and head muscles, poor posture, and an increase in stress. These are all areas that can be addressed with physical therapy!
Read full blogFour Common Neck Conditions
The neck, a.k.a cervical spine, is comprised of 7 spinal segments and 8 nerves. The nerves that exit out of the neck go on to supply innervation and control function of the arms and hands. It is also important to know that some of the muscles that control neck motion are responsible for shoulder motion too.
Common Conditions:
- Cervical Radiculopathy
- Restricted nerve mobility in the neck that can cause pain into the shoulders and arms
- Muscle Spain/Strain
- Muscle that produces pain with contraction (use)
- The term “strain” specifically refers to faulty tendon contraction. Tendons are where muscles attach to bones.
4 Causes of Neck Problems
The neck, a.k.a cervical spine, is comprised of 7 spinal segments and 8 nerves. The nerves that exit out of the neck go on to supply innervation and control function of the arms and hands. It is also important to know that some of the muscles that control neck motion are responsible for shoulder motion too.
Common Neck Conditions:
- Cervical Radiculopathy
- Restricted nerve mobility in the neck that can cause pain into the shoulders and arms
- Muscle Spain/Strain
- Muscle that produces pain with contraction (use)
- The term “strain” specifically refers to faulty tendon contraction. Tendons are where muscles attach to bones.
Results of Not Treating Neck Problems
Think back to the times when you have fallen asleep in an awkward position and had the unexpected pleasure of waking up to a “crick in your neck.” You know when you have an aching neck it makes it very difficult to turn your head to check your blind spots when driving, bend your head forward to check your cell phone, or enjoy knitting or crocheting without discomfort or pain.
Now let’s say you’re like most people who think “oh, it’s not that bad”. When not handled appropriately and immediately, this small “crick” in your neck can lead to:
- Tension headaches
- Facet joint (the junction between two neck vertebrae) dysfunction
- Inability to perform daily tasks safely
Good News! Physical Therapy can address many of these ‘pain in the neck’ problems. It’s important to remember that in order to address any kind of pain or discomfort for good, you need to handle the root cause of that problem.
Read full blogExperiencing Headaches?
Have you ever experienced recurrent headaches or ones that appear after neck movements?
There are different types of headaches that respond to different treatments. Some are mild and resolve on their own while others can last for extended periods and can feel debilitating. Headaches can begin to affect ability to do everyday activities and overall quality of life.
If you are experiencing tension or cervicogenic headaches physical therapy will help reduce the symptoms. A cervicogenic headache develops in the cervical spine or neck and radiates to other areas.
Signs and Symptoms of Concussions
Most people think that in order to have a concussion you must “black out” or lose consciousness, however this is not as common as people think. There are many other signs and symptoms of a concussion. The key to treating concussions, is being able to identify them early on to avoid further injury to our brains.
Some common symptoms following a brain injury include but are not limited to:
- Headache · Pressure in Head
- Neck Pain · Nausea or Vomiting
- Dizziness · Blurred Vision
- Balance Problems · Sensitivity to Light
- Sensitivity to Noise · Confusion
- Difficulty Remembering
- Fatigue or Low Energy
- Difficulty Concentrating
- Trouble sleeping
- More Emotional
- Irritability
- Sadness
- Nervous or Anxious
If you or your athlete experience any of these symptoms, seek treatment right away.
Read full blogHandle Neck Pain the Right Way
We all know a time when we have fallen asleep in an awkward position and had the unexpected pleasure of waking up to a “crick in our neck.” Having an aching neck makes it very difficult to turn our head to check our blind spots when driving, bend our neck forward to check our cell phone, or enjoy knitting or crocheting without discomfort or pain.
When not handled appropriately and immediately, this small “crick” in our neck can lead to tension headaches, facet joint (the junction between two neck vertebrae) dysfunction, and ultimately limits our ability to perform daily tasks safely.
Common Causes of This “Crick in your neck”
- Sleeping in a compromised position.
Desk Jobs and Neck Discomfort
Many of us have sedentary jobs at a desk and/or using mobile technology for day to day communications. It’s so easy for us to slip into a poor posture when we’re mindlessly reading emails or sending texts. The problem is that these poor postures are therefore creating more complaints of neck discomfort.
Neck pain is no longer an ‘adult issue.’ At Loudoun Sports Therapy Center, we also see a lot of young people complaining of neck discomfort, headaches, trouble standing up and other painful issues in these upper body areas.
Forward Head Posture
Think about this: for every inch that your head is tilted forward, there is twice the amount of pressure being placed through your spine.
Read full blogWhere These Headaches are Coming From
Anyone who experiences ongoing or recurring headaches, has probably taken aspirin or any other over-the-counter medication to “relieve” the symptoms. However, this is only temporarily relieving the symptoms as it is creating a false release of the muscles and thus a temporary release of the muscle tension and pressure.
How They Occur:
The problem with headaches is that typically, the small muscles in our neck and those covering our skull have gotten into a more permanent state of tightness and pressure.
Read full blogSedentary Lifestyles and a Painful Neck
Neck problems are more common these days, due to our sedentary lifestyles. How often do we use computers and phones throughout the day? Now let’s think about our posture whenever we use these devices.
Posture plays a large role in maintaining neck health.
Good posture, limits our chance of developing problems that can negatively affect our daily activities. Issues with our neck are commonly associated with pain, headaches, and general stiffness.
Read full blog
