Signs You Have Chronic Headaches

Unless you’re under seven years old or are one of the lucky 4% of people who never experience a headache, chances are you’ve suffered from headaches to some extent². In fact, at any given time, approximately 15% of people are experiencing a headache³. Hopefully the headaches you experience will not be debilitating, and you can function through them. But what if they are becoming more frequent? What if you struggle to work through your headaches? What if they are starting to affect the quality of your life? If you are experiencing headaches more often than usual, you may have chronic headaches.

Chronic headaches are defined as “15 or more headache episodes per month for at least 3 months”, according to the International Headache Society (IHS)¹. Chronic headaches are further subdivided into long headaches (>4 hours) or short headaches (<4 hours) and either primary or secondary headaches. Primary headaches have no underlying cause; the most common types are Tension Headaches and Migraines. Secondary headaches occur due to another underlying cause, such as medication overuse, trauma, central nervous system abnormalities, or vascular issues among others. Chronic headaches affect 1-4 percent of the entire population¹.

If you feel you fit the above criteria and either have not seen a healthcare provider or are not getting relief from your headaches with your current management plan, you should seek further evaluation. Many chronic headaches have complex causes and/or comorbidities, including obesity, sleep apnea, depression, and cardiovascular disease. In many cases, it takes an interprofessional approach to diagnose and treat chronic headaches effectively¹. You also want to be sure that you rule out any urgent or serious underlying conditions, which may require additional testing or treatment.

Depending on the type(s) of headache you are diagnosed with, you will likely benefit from at least a couple of different treatments or interventions. These can range from medications prescribed by your primary care provider or a specialist, medication review by your pharmacist, or getting treatment for underlying conditions.

Many headache types also benefit from non-pharmacologic interventions, especially tension headaches and migraines. These types of headaches can benefit from lifestyle modifications such as exercise, weight loss, or ergonomic modifications. They also respond well to interventions like massage, joint mobilization, dry needling, and therapeutic exercises¹. A physical therapist skilled in treating headaches can help you with both lifestyle modifications and other interventions that can help decrease the frequency and intensity of your headaches to improve the quality of your life.

End Your Suffering from Chronic Headaches, Start with PT!

A physical therapist skilled in managing headaches can help screen your symptoms and refer you to other healthcare providers, work with you on making lifestyle changes, or implement specific therapeutic interventions to address the cause(s) of your headaches. Schedule your free assessment to get started on the road to recovery today!

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*Per federal guidelines, beneficiaries of plans such as Medicare, Medicaid, Tricare, VHA and other federally funded plans are not eligible for free assessments.

The Athletico blog is an educational resource written by Athletico employees. Athletico bloggers are licensed professionals who abide by the code of ethics outlined by their respective professional associations. The content published in blog posts represents the opinion of the individual author based on their expertise and experience. The content provided in this blog is for informational purposes only, does not constitute medical advice and should not be relied on for making personal health decisions.

References:
1) Murphy C, Hameed S. Chronic Headaches. 2023 Jul 31. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2025 Jan–. PMID: 32644509.
2) Rizzoli P, Mullally WJ. Headache. Am J Med. 2018 Jan;131(1):17-24. doi: 10.1016/j.amjmed.2017.09.005. Epub 2017 Sep 20. PMID: 28939471.
3) Burch R, Rizzoli P, Loder E. The Prevalence and Impact of Migraine and Severe Headache in the United States: Figures and Trends From Government Health Studies. Headache. 2018 Apr;58(4):496-505. doi: 10.1111/head.13281. Epub 2018 Mar 12. PMID: 29527677.