What is the cost of a migraine?

So why are they not successful at fully ending our pain?

Sometimes they offer a short term relief but more often than not cause more pain.   The simple answer boils down to the physical manipulation of your neck during these appointments.   Such actions can provoke the nerves in the back of your head, inciting inflammation and, surprisingly, leading to a migraine. 

Quite the paradox, isn't it? 

Now, this draws attention to an important aspect - in most people suffering from migraines, neck and occasionally shoulder pain is often a precursor, or 'prodrome,' to a migraine.   This implies that it's the migraine causing the neck/shoulder pain, not vice versa.   It's crucial to pay attention not just to your pain, but also its timings. 

Typically, neck pain associated with migraine makes its presence felt around the same time or slightly before other migraine symptoms (like fatigue, nausea, light sensitivity) kick in.   This pain tends to melt away as your migraine subsides, which would be true whether you pop pills or simply wait it out. 

And what about those of you battling frequent migraines? Your neck pain might feel like an unwelcome guest, overstaying its welcome and lingering even in between migraines.   This was me 24/7.  Some days the neck pain was worse than the head pain… and yeah I did massage therapy, physical therapy and chiropractic care for YEARS!

Spending so much money on things that only gave me a short few hours of relief.