On Tuesday 29th November, the Mike Varney Physiotherapy team presented an information and advice evening lecture to patients, local GP’s and opticians. The talk was aimed at examining the different types of headaches and migraines and the treatment that we can provide to help reduce symptoms, frequency and intensity.The evening was delivered by 3 of our therapists: Tom Green, Annabel Moeser and Martin Atkinson.
If you missed it here is a brief over view of the discussed points. To book an appointment with us please phone 01279 414959. We recommend the first session for migraines to be an hour!
Headaches are a very common symptom, that have been under estimated, under recognised and under treated. Headache disorders affect people all over the world and can cause difficulty with activities of day to day living. Physiotherapy can produce dramatic results where years of medication and dietary advice have failed. Although similar in nature there is a great difference between types of headaches and migraines.The common headaches that we treat at the clinic are: Cervicogenic Headaches, Cluster Headaches, Tension Headaches and Migraines.
2% of all patients visiting their GP are seeking treatment for headaches or migraines. Even so, 31% of migraine sufferers have never seen a doctor and suffer in silence for a long time.
95% of those visiting their GP are managed solely by the GP and not referred on for any treatment. These are solely managed via medication which itself can produce a headache. Medication overuse headaches are very common and present mostly with a headache upon waking in the morning. The NICE guidelines state that codeine-containing medications actually contribute to ongoing headaches and migraines.
What can we offer you?
Our therapist’s have all attended an intense headache training course in Belfast. The course was based on the Nelson Headache Approach developed by spinal physiotherapist Rebecca Nelson, from her experience of over 22 years of successfully treating headache and migraine sufferers in Northern Ireland and New Zealand. 
The Nelson Approach is a 4 stage method, involving gentle repetitive movements to the back of the neck to reduce stiffness and recurrence of headaches. Rebecca has an 85% success rate with her method and we have seen some amazing results from using the same technique on our patients here at Mike Varney Physiotherapy.
As well as this approach we also combine the use of acupuncture, massage, exercises and sleeping and ergonomic advice. All of which aim to reduce the frequency and intensity of your headache. We recommend 4-6 sessions of the headache treatment to see results but many of our patients see results almost immediately.
Don’t believe us? Ask our patients..
“I had a seven year history of continuous unrelenting headaches. After 3 sessions at Mike Varney Physiotherapy I didn’t have a headache for 3 days! After 6 sessions they had completely cleared!”
“My son had weekly migraines since he was 18 months old. He was under a pediatric neurologist at Addenbrookes and not improving. After 5 treatments at Mike Varney Physiotherapy he has had no migraines in 11 weeks!”
DEC
2016