Treating Different Types of Headaches

Headaches can be more complicated than most people realize. Different kinds can have their own set of symptoms, reasons and treatments. Some headaches can be life threatening, says David Bright, Chief of Physical Therapy in South Carolina for Excel Rehab and Sports. “We have many different forms of headaches. We have some really important life threatening headaches. God has designed our bodies in a way to let us know when there is a problem and those pains let us know that. So, if you are out working in the yard and you get an extreme headache and one that is just out of the ordinary for you, seems to be related to something beyond the norm that is a life threatening concern that you may be having a heat stroke. If you go inside, it is going to be important that you are getting plenty of fluids in, but it is also going to be important to listen to your body and if these things don’t start to resolve, it may be time to get in touch with Urgent Care or it may be time to go to the emergency room. The other thought with life threatening components of headaches is going to be something that might be stroke related where you just have an extreme pain, you may have loss of movement on one side of your body or inability to speak.” Some headaches can be treated with physical therapy, says Jeremy Shook, Chief of Physical Therapy in Tennessee for Excel Rehab and Sports. “The two types of headaches that therapy treat the most are cervical headaches coming from the joints of the spine and tension headaches coming from tension in the muscles at the base of the skull and to the spine. We typically see these two types of headaches in people who are in certain postures for a long period of time; computer workers, desk workers and people traveling on an airplane and reading. They can be on both sides typically and they typically last for several hours to several days. They can last up to a week. The headaches range from mild to moderate in intensity but that is all subjective. Migraine headaches on the other hand are a circulatory issue within the brain, meaning the blood flow is changing in the brain. Once we are talking about a full blown migraine there is no therapy to fix the migraine; however, there are triggers to migraines. Many times, cervical headaches can trigger a migraine, so if we can release the cervical headaches then we can potentially reduce the amount of migraine headaches that you have and hopefully improve your quality of life by reducing the trigger to the migraine headaches.” There are 150 different types of headaches. The most common ones are tension headaches and migraine headaches. To schedule a free screening with Excel Rehab and Sports in South Carolina call 864-654-2001 or in Tennessee call 423-254-5461.