Why does my head hurt?

Most of us will deal with headaches at some time in life. The pain can last for a few days or a few hours, can be specific to a contained area like the forehead, can be “everywhere”, or even mostly in the neck with maybe additional specific head sites.  Whatever the description of pain may be, treatment depends on the root cause. The common types of headaches are cluster headaches, migraines, and tension headaches.

Possible reasons for head pain:

  • Trauma to the back of the head

  • Stress: muscle shortening and/or lengthening due to poor posture and breathing dysfunction.

  • Neck tension or tight neck muscles

  • Osteoarthritis

  • Tumors in the neck

  • Cervical disc disease

  • Poor posture

  • Blood vessel pathology

  • Infection

  • Gout

  • Diabetes

  • Alterations in sleep schedule/Lack of sleep

  • Hormones