There are so many different types of headaches, and it is very difficult for anybody to figure out what category a headache will fit into. When we get patients in our clinic, we hear everybody say that they have migraine headaches, but they are not really migraine headaches. There are tension type headaches, inflammatory headaches, people get headaches from sinus infections, they get headaches from neck problems, from TMJ.

There is also something that is so strange to me, its called a “rebound headache”. When people take a lot of anti-inflammatory medications to help them with their headaches, guess what happens to them when they stop taking the medications? They get terrible headaches!

We also know that there are caffeine headaches. Many people are addicted to caffeine and if they don’t have caffeine quick enough in the morning, they get headaches.

We treat headaches with Prolotherapy (but not while they are flared up) and trigger points–while the headaches are flared up. Trigger Points are also injections, like Prolotherapy. We use very small, fine needles so the injections don’t hurt. We put these injections into the back and neck at spots that are triggering the headaches. For instance:

I had a patient come in with his wife and he had what I would consider a “cluster headache,” you know a series of headaches. His complaint was that it felt like he had a hot poker in his eye. I said to him, “Do you mind if I feel your back and neck?” And he said, “Why do you want to do that? I have a headache!” And I said, “If I could find the cause of your headache, I can get rid of it.” So I found the spot (in the upper back muscle) right next to his neck that was the trigger for his headache pain. When I pressed it…the pain in his eye got worse. My red flag went up and I said to him, “I think I can help you.”

I am always looking for the underlying causes that are causing the headaches. Most headaches no matter what the cause, no matter what you call them, migraine, cluster, etc., many times they come from the musculoskeletal imbalance in the back or the neck and if we can treat these areas of instability, with trigger points, with Prolotherapy. Then we can beat these headaches.

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