Headache Treatment Brisbane

Migraines typically occur on one side of the head, starting as a dull ache before becoming a throbbing pain. They often last up to 3 days and can be preceded by an aura.

Symptoms usually include sensitivity to light and noise, nausea, dizziness, fatigue, and lack of appetite. Due to their length and related symptoms, migraines can be very intense.

Sometimes, this pain can move from one side of the head to the other. If this happens, it is likely that the neck is the issue.

This is good because treatment and manual therapy can help to reduce the symptoms. If your headache is only ever on one side, then there may be just the one joint on that side that is the problem. 

There can also be some instability in the top of the neck when the ligaments in that part of the neck are damaged, sometimes from a whiplash-type injury.

Temporomandibular dysfunction, often called TMJ, refers to issues with the temporomandibular joint, which is the jaw joint. Problems with this joint can result in aching facial pain or pain in and around the ear, which can mimic the feeling of a headache. Sometimes, this jaw dysfunction can also involve the upper neck.

Therefore, it’s important to see a jaw physiotherapist and have them assess the jaw, neck, and upper back.

In our clinic, many patients have experienced relief from BPPV symptoms after only two treatments. In the few days following treatment, patients must take good care of themselves to ensure the little ear rocks do not return to the canal where they were stuck.

A vestibular headache, or migrainous vertigo, often involves dizziness and vertigo-like symptoms and can even be a symptom of vertigo itself. A difference between the tightness in the neck muscles on either side of the spine can cause these. The brain then thinks something is wrong, so the vestibular system says that you are off balance and, therefore, feel dizzy. 

Physiotherapy for vertigo on the neck or cervical spine joints and muscles to improve symmetry and balance can help reduce these symptoms.

Occipital Neuralgia is the term for when there is shooting pain up into the back of the head. It’s caused when the nerves that run from the top of the spine to the scalp are inflamed. These are often confused with migraines, as the symptoms can be similar.

The pain is like electric shocks or jabbing in the neck and head. Other symptoms can include pain behind the eye, sensitivity to light, or pain in the neck.

Trigeminal Neuralgia is a chronic condition affecting the trigeminal nerve. It’s a sensitivity condition in which stimulating the nerve can cause pain. It’s characterised by electric shock-type pain up the side and across the face. 

This pain can be triggered by various everyday actions, such as chewing, shaving, brushing teeth, or even talking. Some people who have this condition may even go for extended periods of time without any pain at all.

Abdominal Migraines are seen most often in children, commonly between the ages of 5-9 years old. The most common symptom is a dull ache in the stomach behind the belly button area. It can also be accompanied by nausea, vomiting and loss of appetite. 

These pains can be linked to adults in the family who also experience head migraines, and often, as children with abdominal migraines get older, these symptoms will disappear and develop into migraine headaches.

Cyclic vomiting occurs with gastro-type symptoms, such as vomiting and diarrhoea. The stress on your body of vomiting often and repeatedly can then cause headaches and neck pain.

Both cyclic vomiting and abdominal migraines can have connections to the neck. If migraine treatment medicine prescribed by your doctor helps the symptoms in these cases, then manual physiotherapy to the neck may also help.

Hemiplegic Migraines are a variant of migraine that can appear like a stroke, so it is very important to have a stroke ruled out by your doctor before beginning migraine treatment. As part of this migraine, you can experience a temporary weakness or paralysis on one side of your body. 

Treating the symptoms would only be possible if all of the scans were clear. Then, some manual physiotherapy treating the neck and spine area may improve the symptoms.