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Headaches and Migraines

• Headaches
• Migraine headaches
• Chronic tension headache
• Stress headache
• Frequent headache
• Persistent headache
• Cluster headache
• Severe headache
• Hormonal (PMS) headache
• TMJ headache

Headaches and migraines, tension headaches, and cluster headaches, can be more debilitating than most people realize. The headache often occurs with other symptoms, such as disorientation, irritability, dizziness, vomiting or other digestive difficulty, loss of libido, and other seemingly unrelated symptoms.

What causes headaches and migraines?

Many chronic headache conditions come from head trauma that could have happened recently, or as many as 5, 10, 20 years ago, even as a result of a difficult birth! If you have this kind of trauma, you may have more than headaches. You may experience difficult digestion, muscular pain, problems conceiving, or other issues that seem unrelated to the headache.

This happens because the body, if it cannot do what it wants using the most efficient pathways, will find another path. The path it takes is less efficient. For instance, if you hurt your knee and you start limping, it is harder to walk and takes more energy. A headache can sometimes come from a fall on your tailbone, digestive issues, or even emotional issues that block the most efficient pathway. Your body’s systems develop a habit of “limping” or moving this way, and that habit persists even after the tissue trauma is long gone. See my “energy effect” video, below. Over time, this develops into a pattern of chronic or recurring pain.

What’s a treatment for migraines and headaches like?

Conventional treatments for severe headaches and migraine headaches often either do not work or work only temporarily, requiring increasing dosages of painkillers and other drugs. But they do not get to the root of the problem.

Gentle headache relief, without drugs

When you come to my office in Charlottesville for a treatment, I will take your history and evaluate your body to see where your tension patterns are. I use gentle pressure and stretches to relieve tension and restore balance.

Here’s the surprising thing. Sometimes in order to treat headaches, I have to relieve tension patterns in other parts of the body first. The first time you see me, I may hardly touch your head!

How long does it take?

Clients typically experience at least some pain relief within the first couple of treatments. Some headache conditions resolve with just a few treatments. Other more chronic and deeply rooted headache conditions require a longer course of treatment.