Addressing Head Pain

If you’re dealing with pain in the back of the head or at the base of the skull, you want relief as soon as possible. The first step to relieving your pain is to find out what’s causing it. Headaches occur for a wide variety of reasons, from prolonged screen time to spinal issues. Let’s take a closer look at some of the most common causes of head pain.

Tension headaches are by far the most common type of headache in adults. People often describe the sensation as having a tight band wrapped securely around their head. This pain frequently radiates to the lower back of the skull and the upper neck. Usually, muscle contraction is the culprit behind tension headaches. When the muscles in your neck, shoulders, and scalp become incredibly tight, they cause a dull, aching pain. Stress is the most common trigger, but others include:

• Lack of sleep
• Dehydration
• Poor posture
• Prolonged screen time

Whiplash is another reason you might have head pain. It’s a type of neck injury caused by a rapid, forceful back-and-forth movement of the neck. Whiplash is most common after a car collision, but it can also result from sports injuries or physical trauma. Headaches from whiplash often start at the base of the skull and radiate upward. They can appear immediately after the injury or take a few days to develop, which is why it’s so crucial to seek medical care after an accident. Other symptoms that come along with whiplash include tenderness in the shoulders, tingling in the arms, and persistent fatigue.

Neck pain is a major contributor to head pain. This is because the upper spine and lower skull share the same nerve network. These nerves share the same pathway to the brain, so your brain can easily confuse where the pain signal is actually coming from. A swollen joint or a strained muscle in your neck can send a distress signal that your brain interprets as a headache.

A pinched nerve in the cervical spine is yet another frequent culprit behind persistent head pain. When a nerve root in the neck becomes compressed or inflamed, it can trigger radiating pain that travels upward into the base of the skull, the temples, or even behind the eyes. This specific type of discomfort is often characterized by a sharp, electric-like sensation or a dull, lingering ache that changes with head movement.