Can chiropractic care actually help with my headaches?

Illustrative — not a real business

It depends heavily on the type of headache. Cervicogenic headaches — those originating from dysfunction in the neck's joints or muscles, often felt starting at the base of the skull and radiating forward, sometimes worsened by certain neck positions or movements — respond well to chiropractic care in the research literature and in our own patient experience. Tension-type headaches with a clear muscular or postural component, often from prolonged desk work, also frequently improve. What responds less reliably is a true migraine driven primarily by neurological or vascular mechanisms rather than the neck, though some migraine patients do report fewer or milder episodes when a coexisting neck issue is also addressed. Our evaluation includes specific tests to assess how much your neck's joints and muscles are actually contributing to your particular headache pattern before we commit to a treatment plan built around that assumption. If your headache pattern does respond, most patients notice at least some change within the first four to six visits — if there is no meaningful change by then, that is useful information too, and we will say so rather than continue an approach that is not working.