Treatment involves correcting the ergonomics of the work space as outlined above, but also providing at-home and at-work exercises to strengthen the muscles as well as some mobilization of the neck during your PT visits. At your first appointment, a physical therapist will ask you questions about the severity and frequency of the headaches, what you’ve tried to do to address them, and then do a physical exam of your neck – range of motion, mobility, etc. If your doctor suspects your headaches are caused by a neck issue, you’ll probably be referred to a physical therapist. If the headaches persist or worsen, schedule an appointment to see your primary care doctor.

Strengthen the muscles between your shoulder blades.

This also forces you to take those frequent breaks Regularly stretch your neck muscles, especially during work hours.Take breaks every 30 minutes from your computer or tablet.Fix your posture at the computer by having an ergonomic assessment done of your work space.If you experience headaches at work that sound like cervicogenic headaches, try the following: Oftentimes, the placement of the screens requires people to swivel their heads, precipitating neck strain. In particular, I’ve noticed a rise in cervicogenic headaches among people who do a lot of computer work with two screens. I see people of all ages, some as young as their early twenties. It’s hard to say how long it takes before poor posture may trigger cervicogenic headaches. Specifically, if you slouch forward or hunch over your keyboard while working at the computer, this poor posture compresses the joints at the base of the neck and strains the muscles to support your head, leading to cervicogenic headaches. While a sports injury to the neck or shoulder or a fall or any accident that abruptly jerks the head backward or forward (whiplash) can cause cervicogenic headaches, sitting at a desk all day is one of the worst culprits. What’s interesting is that most people who develop cervicogenic headaches don’t complain of neck pain and aren’t aware that their neck is stiff until we begin exercises to remedy the problem.

These headaches are caused by structures in the neck – muscles, nerves, the joints of the cervical (upper) spine, disks, and the muscles at the back of the head – that, when irritated or strained in some way, send a pain signal to the brain. Over-the-counter pain medications don’t really alleviate the pain, even temporarily.Onset may frequently occur while you’re in front of the computer or at the end of the day – typically, you don’t wake up with the headache.It’s common to experience pain behind the eye, a decrease in neck movement, or pain that stays in one spot.They start at the back of the head or behind the ear and wrap around to the front.The source of a headache can sometimes be tricky to pinpoint given there are more than 150 unique kinds of headaches, but there are distinct hallmarks of cervicogenic headaches, namely: These headaches have nothing to do with eye strain but rather are caused by nerves and muscles of the neck and spine that have been aggravated by posture or perhaps an injury. If you sit at a desk all day working at a computer and start to notice frequent headaches, you may have what’s known as a cervicogenic headache.

Pinpoint headache above right ear