By Chris Fawcett
•
06 Jun, 2022
If you're a lady who lives with migraines once a month and can set the calendar to when your next headache or migraine will come, then this blog is for you... We may just unlock the hidden secret as to why your headaches and migraines continue to be a burden, no matter what it is that you've tried before! If you live with hormonal headaches, you will often have to plan your diary and events around this time of the month, because when your cycle hits - you may feel knocked out, end up in bed, and have to take plenty of medication. Within the last 5-10 years, a new understanding of how headaches and migraines occur has come into focus. They are caused by a sensitization process. It’s a process that occurs at the bottom of your brain... an area which takes in all of the nerves from pretty much the top lip, all the way up and over to the back of your neck. In essence, your eyes, your ears, your teeth, your tongue, your lips, the back of your neck and the blood vessels inside your head all pass through the same area. What's less recognized is that this nerve centre is modulated by a chemical called serotonin. Serotonin is your happy chemical - the one that causes you to feel deep love and affection. It's the hormone that makes you feel good! When we're talking about hormonal headaches and hormonal migraines, it's important to understand what happens in the menstrual cycle through the month. In mid cycle what happens is that the serotonin increases, then decreases at the end of the cycle, and will then return back to the normal amount during other times of the cycle. So, what has this got to do with your headaches and migraines? Well, there used to be a really strong thought that it's all about the changes in the hormones that cause these headaches and migraines to happen. But, there's a study that came out a number of years ago that showed that it didn't matter if you got headaches or migraines or not, those hormones did the same thing. So some people were getting the headaches and migraines, others weren't, but the hormones were acting the same way. What does that tell us about how the hormonal headaches and migraines work? Well, it might not be the hormones to blame in the first place. What this sensitization means is that if the levels of serotonin is too much or too little, your brain perceives that normal change as a threat. It sees it as something that it needs to have a reaction to, even when there is no need. The problem is, this menstrual cycle is a normal process, and it happens to all females, so what's causing this whole sensitization process to happen? It's not the hormones because that is just a normal process. So, what could it be? Let's go back to talking about that Nerve Centre at the bottom of the brain. There's something that's sensitizing this nerve centre... and can cause the hormonal headaches and migraines to occur. What we've found over a long period of time here treating at The Headache and Pain Management Centre, through many courses we've done, through many thousands of patients that we've seen over the years is that quite often it's the neck that's sensitizing this whole process to occur. Even though the neck has nothing to do with your hormones, it is the "hidden prankster" that's sensitizing this area. It's almost like a ticking time bomb going off! So when your serotonin drops, your brain perceives that change in the hormones as the threat (even when it isn't), because it's already sensitized from what's going on with the nerve signals coming from your neck. What this means in practical terms, there is usually a joint or a muscle or sometimes a combination of both, that's sending a signal into that nerve centre. We like to explain this like a dripping pipette into the water, which over time fills a glass up to 85, 90%. Then at the mensural cycle, the hormones push that water causing it to overflow the glass and causing the headache to happen, so to speak. The hormones themselves are only a little bit of the problem, but the real problem is lying dormant for the rest of the month. It's a bit of an interesting concept if you've never heard that before, but we've seen it way too often to know that this is something that really does need to be considered. How do we know if it's your neck? Here’s a few hints to know if your hormonal headaches might be coming from your neck… 1. If your headache is on one side and can swap across to the other side. So, one month it might be on the right, the other month it might be on the left. If it's moving around, the neck is a prime suspect. About the only thing that can cause a headache to move like this, is your neck joints and the neck muscles. It can be stiffer on one side one month, stiffer on the other side another month, which causes the headache to be on the right or the left. 2. If your headache is locked to one side. If you have a think about it - if it's a genuine hormonal issue, the hormones will have an impact on both sides of the body. You can't just have hormones impact the right side of your brain or the left side of your brain. It impacts your whole system! In the few cases where it is genuinely hormonal, it's generally a really explosive headache that is on both sides and nothing is able to touch it, and the neck will often assess clear in these cases. But if it's on one side or the other side and it's locked there, then it's really worth having your neck assessed to see if the neck is driving this pattern to happen and the hormones are more an innocent bystander. 3. If other medical interventions haven’t worked Lastly, if you've had your hormones looked at and they're normal, if you've had other medications that you've tried, if there's been birth control that you've tried, there's been other interventions that have been tried and nothing seems to work, then it's really important to have the neck assessed because it might just be the missing link in the puzzle. It might well be the thing, the hidden prankster if you like, that's causing all of these issues to occur. If you are in one of those three groups then it's really, really important to get your neck assessed, to see if there is an issue with the neck causing these hormonal headaches and migraines to occur. How do we assess the neck? That's a really good question. It may be a genuine hormonal issue, or it could be your neck. What we do here at The Headache and Pain Management Centre that allows us to determine whether or not it’s your neck that’s the cause, is a very skilled and comprehensive assessment of the top of the neck and all of the other factors that might be driving your headache and migraine to occur. Our process: First step - If you’re unsure whether it’s worthwhile having the assessment, we happily offer free 15 minute phone calls to listen to your story. Which, based on our judgement will be able to recommend if an initial consultation is suitable for you. Everyone is an individual. Everyone has different stories, and we want to make sure that you're not wasting your time or money trying something new. Second step - Is to have an assessment with us, with one of our physiotherapists. This goes for one hour where we look at the history, we see what's been happening, what the impacts are, what you're hoping to get out of treatment. We will then do a full physical assessment to decipher if your headaches and migraines are coming from your neck. We know what we're looking for here. We're looking for stiffness in the joints, we're looking at the way that your neck moves, we're looking at the way that the muscles are behaving at the top of your neck as well, to see if it's something worth considering. If it is something worth considering, what we'll do is we'll tell you how we can help you out. We will tell you exactly how long it might take, how many sessions it might take, what we'll be doing in the room, what you'll need to do at home. We may recommend other interventions or scans or other things and will work alongside your GP to get the results that you need. We've been doing this now for a decade! We have many, many people that we've helped with these hormonal headaches and migraines. We want you to be the next person that we can help out. If this is something that interests you, if you are at your wits' end and wanting some help with this - the best thing you can do is to book a phone call with one of our team, using the link below. https://calendly.com/hpmcentre/10-minute-phone-call-with-hpmcentre