Neck Pain Headache
It has been proven that there is a link between headaches and neck pain, as many people can testify to this by mere experience, and it often seems that the two come together at the same time. The reason for this cause lies in what is called referred pain – an unusual occurrence in a particular area where pain is being experienced that is not necessarily where the problem is.
The key to this cause is that some muscles in the neck or back have nerve connections that run to the head, and one of these main nerves is called the occipital nerve. As the connections here can be strong for many people any discomfort felt in the area transfers up the spine to the head. Therefore, it may be that a person’s headache is rooted in more back or neck related problems such as posture, stress, inactivity, trapped nerves or overuse of a certain part of the body leading to strains or pulls of the muscles and ligaments rather than an actual issue with blood vessels or other causes within the head itself.
The pain experienced in this kind of headache is usually not “throbbing” as this would indicate a different set of problems. Instead sufferers might encompass many descriptions with pain such as “suffuse” or over different areas, ranging from mild through severe intensities. Quite often sufferers of this kind of pain are actually chronic sufferers with extended periods of pain, both in the back and in the head.
As with most referred pain issues the key to treatment of a neck pain headache lies not in the head but in the neck or back, therefore there are a number of different factors that need to be addressed in order to correct this.
Stress is a primary factor in creating back or neck pain as the tenseness of the muscles can result in muscle contraction in the neck. These symptoms are common with a kind of headache called a “tension headache”. Your posture is important when trying to remedy a referred pain headache and finding a chair with lumbar support could be beneficial. At the same time even something as simple as talking on the phone or an overly flat pillow could be causing headache problems, while other problems causing tension and thus head pain could be things such as poor lighting or even gum chewing which causes eye strain, thereby leading to muscle strain and headaches.
While neck pain is present in headaches such as cluster headaches and migraines or occasionally more serious conditions such as cancer or meningitis, it is usually as a symptom of the problem not the causing factor, and while in these cases while the above advice may certainly help it may not be to the same extent.
Other ways to solve this kind of headache are doing sets of simple stretching and muscle strengthening exercises in which you can relax the muscles in your back and neck regularly to help relieve the tension that builds up, increase blood flow and help prevent attacks from happening.
