Does your child have headaches? It could be due to the neck muscles.

There is evidence (O’Leary et al 2003) that people with persistent headache and neck pain have

1. Altered coordination between deep and superficial muscles

2. Greater neck muscle fatigue under sustained low loads

3. Deficits in kinaesthetic sense of the cervical spine and head (a deficit of neck proprioception)

Watch the video below so you understand what muscles should be firing with neck exercises and which ones should not!

This evidence also shows that addressing these muscle control problems, with specific gentle exercise strategies, results in a reduction in neck pain and associated symptoms. Great to know that these types of issues can be fixed!

If your child has the following, then it could also be a trigger for headaches:

1. Restriction of motion, characterized by muscle tension and tightness in the neck and shoulders.

2. Postural abnormalities of cervical spine (also known as “bad posture”), which can accompany looking at the computer or phone constantly.

3. Increased tenderness of the neck and shoulder muscles

Watch video below for an exercise to help neck pain!

It has also been found that there are changes in the cross-sectional area (aka size) of neck flexion and extension muscles in adolescent migraine and tension-type headache (Oksanen et al 2008).

Therefore, impaired and altered functional capacity of the neck musculature (such as strength and endurance) may be either a cause or consequence of recurrent or chronic headache.

If you or your child have recurrent headaches, contact us to determine if a consultation and treatment is right for you to help your pain!