Yes. Whiplash from a car accident, a fall or a sporting collision is one of the most common triggers. Headaches sometimes appear weeks after the event, once the initial neck pain has settled and you return to normal work and screen hours. If you have been through a motor vehicle accident, treatment may be claimable through your insurer [CONFIRM: CTP and workers compensation process at OnePointHealth].

It can, if your current pillow leaves your neck at an angle for hours each night. The aim is to keep your head in line with your spine, so side sleepers usually need more height than back sleepers, and front sleeping tends to load the upper neck most. A pillow change alone rarely fixes headaches, but it removes one nightly trigger.

This varies. People who have had symptoms for a few weeks often notice change faster than people who have had daily headaches for years. Your work demands, sleep, past neck injuries and how consistently you do your exercises all influence the pace. Your chiropractor or physiotherapist tracks headache frequency and intensity so you can see whether the plan is working.

Mild dizziness, light-headedness and a feeling of visual strain can occur, because the upper neck feeds balance and eye movement systems with position information. These symptoms are usually mild and come and go with the headache. Sudden vertigo, double vision, slurred speech or numbness in the face is different and needs urgent medical assessment.

Keep taking anything your GP or pharmacist has prescribed, and tell us what you are using. Medication can be useful for getting through a bad day, but frequent use of over the counter painkillers for headaches can cause medication overuse headache, which changes the picture. If you are taking something most days, that is worth raising with your GP.

It can, particularly overhead pressing, heavy shrugging, long cycling sessions and any exercise where you hold your head back or brace through your neck. The trigger is usually load or position rather than exercise itself. We look at what you are doing, adjust technique and volume, and keep you training rather than stopping you.