Headaches: the Grounded Osteopathy approach
Written by Sarah Slater of Grounded Osteopathy
Do you suffer from headaches? You are not alone, studies suggest 52% of people suffer from recurrent or chronic headaches.
Headaches are awful. It’s not just the pain. It’s the impact they have on our work and social lives. It’s the brain fog and fatigue that comes with them. For some, they are completely debilitating.
Something I wish more people knew is that medication is not your only option! Osteopathic treatment can really help those battling with headaches. Treatment can help you avoid or be less reliant on medication and address the underlying causes of your headaches.
Diagnosis: what is triggering your headaches?
For some, triggers are obvious, for others there appears to be no rhyme or reason for the onset of a headache. As your osteopath, it's our job to work with you to find the triggers of your headache.
Some common day to day triggers are:
Stress
Dehydration
Medication related
Hormonal or menstrual related
Dietary triggers
Caffeine withdrawal
But it's not just these lifestyle factors that can trigger headaches. Musculoskeletal triggers are very common. Tension, restriction, pain in the neck, upper back and or jaw can cause or contribute to headaches.
When a headache is caused by dysfunction in the neck, it is called a cervicogenic headache.
When a headache is caused by dysfunction of the jaw, it is called a temporomandibular headache.
When a headache is caused by stress-induced tension around the skull, it is called a tension type headache.
Sometimes musculoskeletal dysfunction is the cause of a headache. In other cases, musculoskeletal dysfunction can trigger or make you more vulnerable to other types of headaches eg. migraine.
Once your Osteopath has given you a diagnosis for your specific headache type, we then work with you to answer the question: how many of these triggers can we remove, reduce or build resilience to? And then give you meaningful strategies, tools and treatment to help combat your specific triggers.
Treatment
Of course, we look at your individual case and unique needs, but some common things we do to treat headaches are:
Manual therapy / hands on treatment to relieve tension and restrictions that are causing your headaches - this may include treatment in the neck, jaw, upper back, chest regions.
Prescribe exercises that initially work to relieve pain, and long term work to reduce or avoid the recurrence of headaches.
Review ergonomics. We look at how you are using your body during the day - and teach you how to better use it. This would include desk station assessment for office workers.
Education and advice on lifestyle factors which contribute. We’ll help you build good habits around avoiding triggers.
Sleep: assess if your sleep habits, position and pillow are causing you grief
Water intake. Most people know they should be drinking more, but we can help you form better habits.
Load management, particularly if physical activity is aggravating your headache
Stress management. We can discuss strategies to help you manage stress.
If you suffer from headaches, please don’t wait any longer to book in and start your journey. Go to our booking tab or give us a call on 9022 0211.
References:
Stovner LJ, Hagen K, Linde M, Steiner TJ. The global prevalence of headache: an update, with analysis of the influences of methodological factors on prevalence estimates. J Headache Pain. 2022 Apr 12;23(1):34. doi: 10.1186/s10194-022-01402-2. PMID: 35410119; PMCID: PMC9004186.
Meet Sarah
Coming from playing at an elite level of basketball, I thought it was my life's journey to help elite athletes recover from injury, like those who had helped me in my sporting career. Whilst I did (and still do) love working with athletes once I graduated and got into the treatment room I found what was most meaningful to me was connecting with and helping a vast array of people with their diverse needs.
I was (and still am) amazed at how much hands-on treatment could help my patients, but when my body wasn’t coping with the huge change in lifestyle and it felt like I was falling apart, I knew it was time to stop relying on my colleagues for treatment and start to take ownership of my own body.
My patients often comment on my passion and knowledge and I think this comes from my first hand experience with learning how to take care of my body through movement. I had to change my approach to exercise which had always been about pushing myself as hard as I could and start listening to what my body was asking for.
I realized I put way too much emphasis on things that provided temporary relief and not enough time on the simple things that make a difference - rest, recovering and moving your body intentionally. Though I’ve always had an interest in rehabilitation and improving sport performance, this is where my interest in mobility and range of motion strength training began.
Now, 8 years into my osteopathic career, I think the combination of my personal experience with pain and my own health concerns as well as my desire to connect with and help others has created a well rounded osteopath. I know that keeping it simple is the best approach but I’m also not afraid to think outside of the box. I will draw on multiple facets of treatment to create a solution that makes sense for you and the life you are currently living. Nowadays I think it’s my life's journey to listen, educate and empower clients to feel their best.
I have a special interest in:
Sporting injuries.
Invisible illness including hypermobility
Neurodivergent clients
Headaches
Jaw pain
Enjoys treating
Those who have tried everything and haven’t yet found their solution.
Qualifications
Bachelor of Clinical Science (VU)
Masters of Osteopathy (VU)