What we check
- Joint motion at the upper three cervical segments, and whether pressing them reproduces your headache
- Suboccipital and upper trapezius muscle tension and trigger points
- Upper thoracic and rib motion, plus shoulder blade position
- Cervical range of motion, measured and re-measured
- Jaw motion and clenching signs
- Breathing pattern and accessory muscle use
- Basic neurological screen and red-flag history
- INSiGHT nervous system scan findings
- Headache pattern: timing, triggers, duration, and what you've already tried
What to expect
The first visit is about an hour and a good chunk of it is history, because headache patterns live in the details. When they hit, how long they last, what side, what comes with them, and what your physician has already said. Then a nervous system scan and a hands-on exam of your neck, upper back, jaw, and shoulders. If your findings suggest a mechanical contribution, you'll receive your first adjustment that day, using the lowest force that does the job. We'll ask you to log headache days so we can tell whether anything is actually changing.
Book a first visitThree Different Headaches, Often Tangled Together
Three patterns get called the same thing, and they don’t get the same answer.
- Tension-type headache — a band of pressure, both sides, often at the temples or the base of the skull. Builds through the day. Strongly linked to sustained muscle contraction, jaw clenching, screen posture, and stress load. This is the type most obviously connected to what we work on.
- Cervicogenic headache — pain that starts in the neck and refers upward, usually one-sided, often behind one eye, and reproducible by pressing certain spots in the upper neck. It comes from the joints and muscles of the upper cervical spine. Also squarely mechanical.
- Migraine — a neurological condition, not a muscle problem. It involves changes in brain and nerve activity, and commonly brings nausea, sensitivity to light and sound, and sometimes visual aura. Migraine is your physician’s territory; chiropractic care does not manage the underlying neurology, and we’re not going to pretend it does.
- They overlap. Plenty of people with diagnosed migraine also carry a genuinely stiff, guarded neck, and neck tension is a well-known trigger. Addressing the mechanical layer doesn’t take the place of migraine care — it can remove one input stacking on top of it.
What We Look At in the Neck and Upper Back
The top three segments of your neck have an unusually dense connection to the nerves that carry pain signals from the head.
- Upper cervical joints and suboccipitals. When those joints stop moving well and the small muscles underneath your skull stay locked, referred head pain is a recognized result.
- Upper back and ribs. A mid back that has stopped rotating and ribs that have stopped moving force the neck to compensate. So does a shoulder blade that never sits where it should.
- The loading, not just the sore spot. Working only on the tender point at the base of the skull tends to buy a day or two; changing what’s loading it tends to last longer.
- Jaw. Clenching is one of the most common and most missed drivers.
- Breathing pattern. Chest-dominant breathing keeps the neck’s accessory muscles working all day.
What Care Is Intended to Do, and What It Isn’t
Adjusting is meant to restore motion to restricted cervical and upper thoracic joints and to reduce the protective muscle tension around them.
- Where a headache pattern is fed by those mechanics, easing them can reduce how often headaches show up and how hard they hit — that’s the honest claim, with reasonable evidence behind it for tension-type and cervicogenic headache
- We don’t diagnose migraine and we don’t manage it
- We will never suggest changing anything your physician or neurologist has prescribed — keep your medication and keep your appointments
- If you’re tracking headache days in an app, bring it; it’s the most useful measure either of us has
- INSiGHT scanning shows the tension your nervous system is holding. Headache sufferers frequently show high sustained tension, and it gives us something to re-measure rather than relying on memory
The Things Around the Edges
Headache patterns rarely have one cause, and the mechanical work lands better when the obvious fuel is turned down.
- Hydration, caffeine timing, skipped meals, screen glare, and sleep debt all show up in headache diaries
- Parents of young children are usually running short on at least two of those — we’ll ask, not to lecture
- Head trauma changes the plan. If your headaches started after a car accident, a fall, or any blow to the head, tell us at the first visit
- Post-traumatic headache is assessed differently and needs medical clearance first
See a medical provider right away if you notice
- The worst headache of your life, or one that reaches full intensity within seconds — call 911; thunderclap headache is a medical emergency
- Headache with fever, a stiff neck you cannot bend forward, rash, or confusion — emergency evaluation for meningitis
- Headache with new weakness, numbness on one side, drooping face, slurred speech, or vision loss — call 911; these are stroke signs
- Any headache following a head injury, fall, or car accident — medical evaluation before chiropractic care
- A headache that is clearly different from your usual pattern, or a new headache after age 50
- Headache that is consistently worse when lying down, on waking, or with coughing and straining — see a physician
- Headache with seizures, personality change, or progressive memory problems — prompt medical assessment
- New headaches during pregnancy or postpartum with vision changes, swelling, or high blood pressure — contact your OB or midwife the same day
Common questions
Can chiropractic care get rid of my migraines?
No, and be cautious of anyone who says it can. Migraine is a neurological condition managed by your physician. What we can address is the neck and upper back mechanics and muscle tension that often sit alongside it and can act as a trigger. Some people find that lowers how often they're hit. Others don't, and we'll tell you if we're not helping.
How do I know if my headaches are coming from my neck?
Good clues: pain that starts at the base of the skull, stays mostly on one side, worsens with certain neck positions or long screen sessions, and can be reproduced during the exam by pressing specific upper neck joints. That's part of what the first visit is for.
Should I stop my headache medication if care is working?
That decision belongs to the physician who prescribed it, not to us. Never change a prescription based on how you feel after an adjustment. Tell your doctor what's changed and let them guide it.
My headaches got worse after I started sitting at a home desk. Coincidence?
Probably not. Monitor height, chair support, and hours without moving are among the most reliable tension headache drivers we see. It's usually one of the first things we change.
This page is educational and is not medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Chiropractic care does not treat or cure disease; it supports the function of the nervous system and spine. Please speak with your pediatrician or a licensed clinician about your family's specific situation, and seek immediate care for any urgent symptom.