Not every headache is a migraine. Often when someone has a headache, they term it a migraine, but migraines have very specific features that are unique. When we look at headaches, there are a lot of causes and some of those causes drive the classification of the headache according to the International Headache Society.
As of 2024, the primary headaches are (1):
- Tension-type
- Migraine
- Cluster headaches
Secondary headaches (1):
- Cervicogenic (neck origin)
- Post-traumatic
- Medication overuse
Physical Therapy can successfully treat tension-type and cervicogenic headaches (1). However, clinically diagnosed migraines are more responsive to medication than exercise and manual therapy. All headaches are broken down into attack duration and frequency, headache symptoms, and other symptoms (1).
