Can a Chiropractor Help with Headaches?

Yes, and for two specific types, cervicogenic and tension headaches, the results are often significant. We treat headache patients at Full Swing Healthcare regularly. For a lot of them, chiropractic is the first thing that has actually worked.

Most Headaches Start in the Neck

Cervicogenic headaches originate in the upper cervical spine, specifically the C1 and C2 joints. When those joints are restricted or irritated, they refer pain upward in a predictable pattern, usually starting at the base of the skull and spreading forward toward the eye or forehead. Most patients who come to us with these headaches have been told they have migraines or tension headaches. They are not wrong about the pain being in their head. They are wrong about where it is coming from.

The source is mechanical. Chiropractic is designed to address mechanical problems. That is why the outcomes for this type of headache are as consistent as they are.

Tension Headaches and What Drives Them

Tension headaches are a different animal, though they often coexist with the cervicogenic type. The upper trapezius and suboccipital muscles go into chronic contraction from screen time, poor desk ergonomics, and sustained forward head posture. Jacksonville's commute traffic does not help. Neither does looking down at a phone for hours.

The suboccipital muscles at the base of the skull are particularly important. They connect the upper cervical vertebrae directly to the occiput. When they carry active trigger points, they refer pain over the top of the head in a band pattern. That is exactly what most people describe as a tension headache. Dr. Muren works these muscles directly in every headache patient he treats. An adjustment without addressing those trigger points produces shorter results.

A Patient Who Stopped Getting Headaches

A woman from the Beaches area came to us after three years of two to three tension headaches per week. She had tried everything: different pillows, chiropractor elsewhere who only adjusted her with no soft tissue work, massage that helped for a few days, and a long rotation of ibuprofen. When Dr. Muren assessed her, the right suboccipitals and levator scapulae had trigger points that reproduced her headache pattern the moment he pressed on them. Four sessions cleared the pattern. She called us six weeks later to say she had had one mild headache in that whole period. She cried on the phone.

That outcome is not guaranteed for every headache patient. But it is not unusual either. The structural driver in her case had simply never been addressed before.

What About Migraines

Migraines are neurological, not purely mechanical, and chiropractic is not a migraine cure. That said, many migraine patients have upper cervical dysfunction that acts as a consistent trigger. If your migraines are reliably preceded by neck tension or stiffness, reducing that mechanical irritant can lower how often the threshold is crossed. We are honest with every headache patient about what we think we can and cannot do. If your pattern does not suggest a cervical component, we say so.

For migraines with an autonomic or stress-driven component, Dr. Muren's acupuncture training is relevant. The combination of cervical adjustment and acupuncture targeting the suboccipital region and autonomic regulation points produces a different quality of result than either approach alone.

One More Thing Worth Mentioning

If you are taking ibuprofen or acetaminophen several times a week for headaches, that cycle is worth breaking. Frequent pain medication use for headaches can cause medication overuse headaches, a rebound effect where the medication itself starts triggering headaches. Getting to the mechanical cause ends that cycle. Call us at (904) 539-3352. We are at 13770 Beach Blvd #4 in Jacksonville and can usually get headache patients in quickly.