Headaches to the back of the neck can be . .well, a pain. Sometimes it starts out a tightening in the muscles but then progresses to throbbing or even
radiating up and around to the front of the head. It can build with sitting at your computer, driving, or even carrying shopping bags. It’s that nagging
pain that makes you want to move your head and shoulders to get some sort of relief. These types of headaches are known as tension headaches. They
differ from migraines or sinus headaches in the way in which they progress and what causes them.

Migraines can be a result of hormones, genetics, or sleep deprivation to just name a few of the causes. Sinus headaches are due to a build-up of pressure
in the sinus cavities. Tension headaches are caused by the muscles that surround the base of your skull and neck. Certain trigger points within these
muscles can cause radiating pain which presents as a headache. The picture above (source: Journal of bodywork and movement therapies 14(4):391-6 October 2010) shows the referral pattern of some of these muscles.

The good news is that physical therapy can address these trigger points to help you learn how to relieve the tension to prevent these nagging headaches.
Sometimes it as easy as adjusting your desk chair or computer screen. Sometimes it is educating you on self-release techniques with a lacrosse ball.
But sometimes it requires the skilled hands of a physical therapist to improve the joint mobility of the surrounding bones or break of some restrictions
within the soft tissue structures.

This is a very fixable problem so don’t wait to call your physical therapist who specializes in the treatment of headaches to tackle this once and for
all!