Muscle tension headaches are becoming more common in my practice.  Between the recession, stress at home, traffic and other pressures we have become more prone to experiencing headaches - especially muscle tension headaches.

For 80 percent of us the physical manifestations of our stress shows up in the form of tight, knotted muscles in our necks, upper backs and shoulders.  Many of those muscles attach to the base of your skull right near the very top of your neck.  With time, the stress that the tight muscles impose on the base of the skull irritates the muscles' attachment points eventually leading to inflammation and more muscle spasms.  It is this muscle spasm that results in  muscle tension headaches. 

This lady has a muscle tension headache - possibly caused by a demanding un-caring boss,

too many bills and kids that incessantly badger  her at home.

Ideally, treatment for muscle tension headaches begins with identifying and eliminating the source of the stress.  This is not always possible.  If you can't retire from your stress filled job the next best thing for muscle tension headaches is chiropractic care.  Chiropractic treatment helps muscle tension headaches through a variety of different mechanisms.  Primarily, chiropractic treatment causes a reflexive relaxation of the neck muscles (the same mechanism that has been shown to lower blood pressure), improves flexibility in your neck and through a more complex neural pathway actually helps reduce pain.

Are you suffering from muscle tension headaches?  If so, call us today - we can help!  (619) 280-0554