The answer is yes! Physical therapists are skilled at treating the underlying issues that cause many people to have chronic headaches. Also, they offer treatment techniques that can benefit chronic headache patients.
Your headaches are considered chronic if you have headaches more than 15 days per month and your headaches last for at least four hours. The risk of developing this type of headaches is higher than you might think. For instance, data from one study shows that up to 5% of the general population experiences chronic headaches. Physical therapists can use many therapy methods to treat chronic headaches. But there is one treatment technique that can be especially beneficial.
The top therapy technique for chronic headache treatment
One type of therapy that’s at the top of the list for specialists who are treating chronic headaches is manual therapy. In general, this technique involves therapists using their hands to move, mobilize, and manipulate joints and soft tissue. This is why it’s also called hands-on therapy.
Manual therapy can be used to target many soft tissue and joint issues. It’s very effective for chronic headaches. The reason is because it can address the chronic muscle tension and facet joint issues that often lead to daily headaches. A few of the benefits that manual therapy can offer for chronic headache sufferers include:
- Reducing headache frequency — Your physical therapist can use manual therapy to help you have headaches less frequently. One study found that eight weeks of manual therapy helped reduce headache frequency by more than six days per month.
- Decreasing headache duration — Your physical therapist may also use hands-on therapy to reduce how long your daily headaches last. A study found that manual therapy decreased headache duration by more than five hours after an eight-week treatment period.
- Cutting pain intensity — Manual therapy can also help reduce the pain intensity of chronic headaches. Medical researchers reveal that an eight-week course of hands-on therapy led to a nearly two point decrease in headache intensity.
- Benefits are long lasting — One goal of physical therapy is to help patients get long-lasting benefits. Hands-on therapy helps therapists meet this goal when treating chronic headaches. Research shows that patients who had eight weeks of manual therapy still had reduced headache frequency and pain intensity 26 weeks after their last session.
Find chronic headache treatment at Border Therapy Services
Are you looking for help with chronic headaches? Our physical therapists at Border Therapy Services are eager to help you find the help you need. We offer free screenings that can pinpoint underlying issues that could be triggering your chronic head pain. Additionally, our specialists excel at creating personalized treatment plans designed to offer all the benefits above. In some cases, we may even be able to treat you at your home with our at-home care and virtual therapy services.
Contact us today for more information on how we can help you with your frequent headaches or to schedule an initial appointment.