Tension headaches
It does not
start in your head.
The one that builds through the afternoon and settles behind your eyes usually comes from the neck. Painkillers treat the headache. They do not treat where it is coming from.
Why it keeps happening
Tests came
back clear
For a lot of people the pattern is years old and nothing has ever been found, so it gets filed under “I just get headaches” and managed with something from the cupboard most weeks.
The assessment looks at upper neck range, the muscles at the base of the skull, what the shoulders and jaw are doing, and whether pressure there reproduces the headache you actually get.
Sound familiar
What people describe
- They build through the day rather than arriving suddenly
- It sits behind the eyes, at the temples, or up the back of the head
- Your neck and shoulders are tight on the days you get them
- You take something most weeks and have stopped thinking of it as unusual
- Tests came back clear, so nothing changed and nobody looked further
What happens
Firm work, and
a useful kind of sore
Some of the work at the base of the skull is firm. If it briefly reproduces your headache, that is useful information rather than a problem, and Dale will tell you before he does it.
You leave knowing whether the neck is driving this, what was done about it, and what to change in the meantime.
What else we treat
The others we
see most
Neck & shoulders
The one that starts at 3pm and is still there at bedtime.
Low back
Fine until you bend to put your shoes on.
Tennis & golfer’s elbow
Six months of “it’ll settle”. It has not settled.
Desk & posture pain
Eight hours a day in one shape has consequences.
Sports injuries
The niggle you are still training on.
Practical
Before you call
Health funds
Claim it
on the spot
- Medibank
- Bupa
- HCF
- nib
- HBF
- Australian Unity
- ahm
HICAPS is on the desk, and it is connected to every private health insurer in Australia — not just the ones listed. Tap your card after the appointment, the rebate comes off on the spot, and you pay the gap rather than the lot.
What comes back depends on your level of extras cover, and myotherapy is not on every policy. The terminal tells you the exact number before you leave the room, so there is no invoice to chase and nothing to find out later.
FAQ
Questions people actually ask
What if my neck does not hurt?
That is common, and it does not rule the neck out. Referred headache frequently comes from a neck that feels perfectly fine until it is examined.
Should I see a doctor instead?
A headache that is sudden and severe, or comes with fever, visual changes, confusion, weakness or numbness, needs urgent medical assessment — that is an emergency department, not an appointment. For headaches that are new or changing in pattern without those signs, start with your GP.
Is this the same as migraine?
No. Migraine is its own condition and is managed medically. Neck-driven headache can sit alongside migraine and muddy the picture, which is part of why the assessment is worth doing.
Book about your headaches
Forty minutes in Mornington. Find out whether your neck is driving them.