Physical Therapy Treatment for Headaches


Benefits of Physical Therapy

  • Reduce head, neck, and shoulder pain
  • Restore spinal alignment
  • Strengthen muscles
  • Normalize and restore neck range of motion
  • Reduce clenching and grinding of teeth

Case Study

PATIENT

Sarah is a 28 year old woman whose chief complaint was worsening headaches over the course of two weeks. Sarah had no obvious trauma that might cause the pain, and a change in her eyeglass prescription did not alleviate her symptoms.

PRE-TREATMENT STATUS

  • Intermittent daily headaches with a pain ranging from 2/10 to 6/10
  • Periodic blurred vision
  • Neck fatigue, feeling the need to rest her head on her hands throughout the day

TREATMENT

A thorough evaluation by Sarah’s physical therapist revealed several important factors including poor postural habits, multiple muscle spasms, and unawareness of teeth clenching. She was prescribed manual physical therapy, exercise, and a simple correction in her posture. Treatment continued for 5 visits over 3 weeks.

RESULTS

  • Abolished pain associated with headache
  • No more complaints of blurred vision
  • Works throughout the day without feeling neck fatigue or the need to rest head

TWO TYPES OF HEADACHES

PRIMARY VS. SECONDARY
PRIMARY HEADACHES ARE VASCULAR IN ORIGIN WHILE SECONDARY ARISE FROM A NECK OR HEAD DISORDER.

PAIN LEVELS

Before: 2-6
After: 0

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