Headaches & TMJ Treatment — Loveland, CO
Most Headaches Aren’t Caused by Stress or Your Sinuses. They Start in Your Neck.
If you get headaches regularly — especially ones that start at the base of your skull and work their way forward — your neck muscles are almost certainly involved. The same is true for jaw pain, clicking, and face tension. These problems are driven by muscles that have been overworked or shut down, and they respond very well to the right kind of PT. One80 finds exactly which muscles are driving your headaches and fixes them.
Conditions we treat
What’s causing your headaches or jaw pain?
Find your condition below. Whether it’s recurring headaches or jaw clicking and locking — the root cause is almost always a muscle problem. We identify it and fix it.
Cervicogenic Headaches (Neck Headaches)
Cervicogenic headaches start in the neck and work their way forward — often to behind one eye, the temple, or the forehead. They feel like a tension headache or a migraine, and they’re frequently misdiagnosed as one or the other. The difference: the nerve pathways that carry pain signals from the upper neck and the ones that carry pain from the head overlap in the brainstem. Neck problems can produce headache pain in your forehead.
The most common cause is deep cervical flexor inhibition — the muscles in the front of your neck that support and position your head have switched off. The suboccipital muscles at the base of your skull get chronically overloaded and start generating pain. We restore those deep neck muscles so the suboccipitals are no longer doing all the work. Most cervicogenic headache patients see significant reduction in frequency and intensity within 3–5 visits.
TMJ Dysfunction (Jaw Pain)
Clicking or popping when you chew. Pain in the jaw, face, or in front of your ear. Sometimes the jaw locks open or won’t open fully. Headaches. Neck pain. The TMJ — your jaw joint — is controlled by muscles. When those muscles are out of balance (usually because of neck muscle problems, teeth grinding, or poor jaw posture), the disc inside the joint gets displaced and you start getting clicking, pain, and locking.
Night guards protect your teeth but don’t fix the muscle imbalance causing the joint problem. We assess the jaw and neck muscles together — because they’re connected. We restore the resting tone balance between the muscles that open and close the jaw, and we address the neck muscle pattern that’s almost always contributing. When the muscles are balanced, the joint moves correctly and the symptoms resolve.
Why One80 PT resolves headaches and jaw pain when other approaches don’t
Most headache treatment is medication-based. Most TMJ treatment involves a night guard and stretches. Neither addresses the underlying muscle imbalance that’s generating the problem in the first place. One80 treats headaches and jaw pain at the neuromuscular root cause — restoring the specific muscles that have failed and taking the load off the structures that are generating pain.
We serve patients from Loveland, Fort Collins, Berthoud, Windsor, Timnath, and across Northern Colorado. One therapist. One patient. Every visit.
Common questions about headaches and jaw pain
How do I know if my headaches are coming from my neck?
Key signs: headaches that are one-sided, triggered by neck movement or sustained neck positions, that start at the base of your skull, and that come with neck pain or stiffness. A physical therapist who knows how to assess the upper cervical spine can confirm this in your first visit.
My dentist gave me a night guard. Should I still try PT?
Yes. A night guard protects your teeth from grinding and may reduce morning jaw pain. It doesn’t address the muscle imbalance causing the grinding and joint dysfunction. PT and a night guard can work together — the PT fixes the cause, the night guard protects while healing is happening.
Can PT actually replace my headache medication?
For cervicogenic headaches, yes — often completely. PT that corrects the neck muscle pattern removes the source of the headache signal. Medication manages the signal once it’s already been generated. Removing the source is a more complete solution.
Do you treat headaches and jaw pain in Fort Collins and surrounding areas?
Yes. One80 Physical Therapy is located in Loveland, CO and serves patients from Fort Collins, Berthoud, Windsor, Timnath, and across Northern Colorado.
Ready to find out why your head or jaw really hurts?
Call (970) 593-9300 or book your free consultation.
One therapist. One patient. Results on your first visit — guaranteed.