Approximately 500 thousand people in Ireland suffer with Migraines. Nearly 60% of them will also suffer with tension or cervico-genic headaches. Our physiotherapy team at Archview Physiotherapy in Ranelagh, Dublin specialise in the treatment and management of headaches, and a large portion of those patients are migraines sufferers. Migraines are a medical condition that require medication in many cases. They can be very debilitating. By managing the headache associated with the migraine, your lifestyle and quality of life can be greatly improved.
Our physiotherapy team use a combination approach of physiotherapy, dry needling, myofascial massage, posture correction exercises and ergonomic correction. Dry needling is an evidenced based technique that will help reduce the painful trigger point knots that are causing your head pain. There are 20 muscles that can refer pain into the head. The diagram below shows the referral pattern of the SCM muscle. This is a commonly treated muscle for tension headaches. These headaches are seen a lot in migraine patients. Once these knots are released you should feel pain relief from your headache anywhere from between 1-24 hours after treatment. It has been proven to be an extremely effective technique to reduce and, in many cases, eliminate headaches.
These painful trigger point knots are one source of your pain. The joints in the neck are another source of pain. Poor posture that is associated with desk work and mobile phone usage is having a huge impact on the spine and the muscles around the head neck and shoulders. When the joints in the neck become poorly aligned or stiff, headaches can develop. When the muscles become overloaded they will knot, and referral pain from those knots may develop.
Your physiotherapists will identify all sources, treat and educate you on self management.
If you wish to learn more or talk to one of our physiotherapists to see if physiotherapy and dry needling can help you, book a consultation by calling 014913228 or emailing us on [email protected].
