Headaches & Migraines

A headache is pain or pressure in the head, and a migraine is usually a more intense version that can come with nausea, light sensitivity, or visual changes. Most headache pain doesn't actually start in the brain itself, because brain tissue has no pain sensors. It comes from the structures around it: the muscles, blood vessels, and nerves of the head and neck, all of which are controlled by your nervous system. When those signals get overactive or out of balance, your body experiences it as a headache.

Headaches tend to fall into a few patterns. Tension-type headaches feel like a tight band squeezing the head and often build through the day. Vascular patterns, including many migraines, involve changes in blood flow and tend to throb. Cervicogenic patterns start in the neck and refer pain up into the head. Many cases have a structural component in the upper cervical spine, where tension and restricted movement can irritate the nerves that feed the head. Common drivers include stress, poor sleep, screen posture, dehydration, hormonal shifts, and clenching the jaw.

Our approach starts by mapping the nervous system first with a thorough neurological evaluation, so we can see where tension and irritation are showing up rather than guessing. From there we build a personalized care plan aimed at supporting how your nervous system and the structures of your neck and head function. This works alongside your primary medical care, never in place of it, and we coordinate with your physician when that's the right call.