Why Are Headaches Sometimes Just One Side Of The Head?

Dr. Amy Konvalin explains what’s going on in there:

There are two sides to this

Neck-related headaches are a common thing: tension, restricted movement, or irritation in your neck can refer pain upwards into your head. This can be particularly noticeable when you wake up with a headache after sleeping in a position that doesn’t properly support your neck and shoulders—in which case, it’s usually asymmetrical!

So, what to do about it?

• To test it, try turning your head fully to look over one shoulder and then the other. If you experience pain, tension, restricted movement, or another sensation in your neck, the headache may be related to your neck. If you can rotate fully in both directions without any neck symptoms but still experience the headache, it may be more consistent with a migraine.
• To ease it, if your neck feels restricted and painful, gently rub the tender muscles on the affected side until they feel less tense and tender. Then try turning your head again. Gentle, passive head movements can also help restore comfortable movement. This approach doesn’t necessarily resolve the underlying problem, though.
• To treat it, if one-sided headaches repeatedly occur after waking, during particular neck movements, or several times a week, a manual physical therapist could assess your neck joints and muscles, identify contributing movement patterns, and provide personalized-to-you exercises to retrain your neck muscles and reduce recurrence.

For more on all of this, enjoy:

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Take care!