Why Neck Pain Often Comes With Headaches (And How to Stop It)

Muscle tension in your neck? You may be experiencing what's called a cervicogenic headache. When pain is triggered in your neck, the nerves connecting those muscles to your brain can cause what feels like a headache. Fortunately, treating the cause in the neck can usually resolve your headache.

How Can Tight Muscles in Your Neck Cause Headaches?

Upper neck joints (C1-C3) nerve roots run along the same pathway as the trigeminal nerve. The trigeminal nerve controls sensation in your head and face. When irritated muscles around the neck joints send "pain traffic" down the nerve roots, it can create confusion in the brain because pain signals are coming from the neck AND the head. Basically, your brain registers this as a headache.

Three Muscle Groups to Keep in Mind

The three major muscles groups to pay attention to with neck pain and headache:

• Suboccipitals: These muscles are located at the base of your skull and control fine positioning of the head. When tight, suboccipital muscles can refer pain into the head and behind the eye.
• Upper traps: These muscles extend from the shoulder to the skull. They are notorious for developing areas of tenderness called trigger points from stress and bad posture. Tight upper traps are often responsible for that "vice-like" quality to tension headaches.
• Sternocleidomastoid (SCM): Large, rope-like muscles running down each side of your neck. When overworked, the SCM can refer pain to behind the ear, forehead, and around the eye.

When muscles become chronically tight, they also tend to develop these trigger points that tug on sensitive structures and irritate nerves entering into the trigeminal-cervical junction.

How Do Neck Pain and Headaches Feel?

Patterns of Headaches Caused by Neck Pain

Most people think of headache pain as coming from their head. But if the source is the neck, you may notice the following pattern of pain, which looks similar to a Ram's horn:

• Begins on one side of the base of the skull
• Circles around towards the temple
• Shoots up towards the forehead or behind the eye

Since these headaches originate from the neck, they tend to stay on one side of the head but can jump sides.

Other clues that your headache may be coming from your neck:

• Gets worse with neck movement: Turning your head side to side, extending your head backwards, or sustaining awkward positions can make your symptoms flare.
• Limited neck mobility: Stiffness and decreased range of motion are usually involved with cervicogenic headaches.
• Absence of migraine symptoms: Extreme sensitivity to light, nausea, and visual disturbances (aura) are typically not associated with cervicogenic headaches.
• Dull, constant ache: Neck headaches are typically not throbbing or pulsing like migraines.
• Tender areas along the neck: You will most likely feel pain when applying pressure along the neck.

What are Common Causes of Neck Pain and Headaches?

1. Forward Head Posture: Each inch your head moves forward increases the workload for your neck muscles to hold up your head. Over time, this creates tremendous strain on our suboccipitals and upper traps.
2. Whiplash Injury: Whether your car accident was last week or ten years ago, whiplash can lead to long-term changes in the muscles and joints of the neck that lie dormant for years.
3. Clenching/Jaw Pain: Your neck and jaw are connected! When chewing muscles become overworked, they send pain signals to your head. Jaw tightness causes neck muscles to tighten and vice versa.

How To Treat Neck Pain With Headaches

Retrain Your Posture with Chin Tucks

Doing chin tucks is one of the best exercises to correct your posture. By strengthening your deep neck flexors, you'll learn how to properly position your head over your shoulders.

• Sit up tall or stand up straight.
• Pull your chin straight back, trying to make a "double chin."
• Hold for 5-10 seconds.
• Repeat 10-15 times, aiming for 3-4 sets throughout the day.

Important: Make sure you are not dropping or lifting your head; think of how a turtle retracts its head into its shell.

Get Trigger Point Release on Your Suboccipitals

Manual therapy from a physical therapist can help release tension build-up, restore joint mobility in your upper neck, and diminish irritation to the nerve roots.

Stop The Cycle With Ergonomic Improvements

• Monitor height: The top of your screen should be at or slightly below eye level.
• Monitor distance: Keep your screen about an arm's length away.
• Shoulders: Keep your keyboard at a height that allows your shoulders to relax.
• Phone Usage: Avoid excessive phone use or hold your phone up at eye level.

When Should You See a Professional?

If you're experiencing severe symptoms or have not found relief with self-care, a physical therapist can help by identifying which structures are involved and creating an individualized plan to treat the cause.

Ready to ditch that headache? Book an appointment at Carter Physiotherapy in Austin and we'll help you determine what is causing your pain.

FAQs on Neck Pain and Headache

What is the difference between migraines and a neck headache?
Migraines are typically throbbing with nausea and light sensitivity; cervicogenic headaches feel like a steady ache that worsens with neck movement.

Can looking down at my phone all day give me a headache?
YES! Poor posture while looking at your phone causes forward head posture, putting excess stress on muscles that radiate pain to the head.

What kind of pillow should I use?
Ideally, one that keeps your neck straight. Side sleepers need a thicker pillow to fill the shoulder gap; back sleepers need a flatter pillow to prevent pushing the head forward.