Most chronic headaches are not random. They start in the neck. The upper cervical vertebrae sit just below the base of the skull, and when one of them shifts out of place, it pulls on the muscles, irritates the nerves running into the head, and restricts blood flow. The result feels like a headache, but the source is structural.

Migraines work on a similar pattern, with added factors like vascular changes and sensory triggers. Patients often spend years cycling through medications that mask the pain without addressing why it keeps coming back. The headaches return because the underlying alignment problem never got corrected.

Dr. Lena Hartwell starts with a careful look at the upper cervical spine. The exam identifies which vertebra is involved and which direction it has moved. The adjustment is specific to that joint and only that joint. When the alignment is restored, the nerve and vascular pressure eases, and the headache pattern usually changes within a few visits. Patients who have lived with daily or weekly headaches for years sometimes notice the difference quickly. Others take more time, especially if the pattern is decades old. Either way, the goal is the same: address the source instead of chasing the symptom.