What do we look at when several clinics couldn't find the cause?

What follows combines several people's visits into one reconstructed account. It is not any one person's story, and anything that could identify someone has been removed.

How do people describe it when they come in?

They've had headaches and neck pain for years, but scans of the head and neck only came back with "nothing abnormal."

Medication helps for a while, then it flares up again, over and over — and many come to us feeling this is their last try.

What does "nothing abnormal" mean?

Good news first: you've confirmed it isn't a serious disease. That check needs to be done before we can look at it.

Scans look for urgent things like tumors, bleeding or pinched nerves. How far and in which direction a bone is rotated isn't what those scans are for.

So "nothing abnormal" and "it shouldn't hurt" are two different things.

So what do we look at?

We look at whether the top two vertebrae of the neck sit evenly left and right, or are rotated to one side. We also look at how that area is tied in with the jaw.

These two vertebrae are where the head rests and turns left and right. If they get fixed off to one side, the surrounding area keeps getting irritated.

The jaw and this area move together. If the jaw stiffens off to one side, the area above follows and rotates, and the reverse is also true.

How do we treat it?

We don't forcefully twist the neck bones directly. We work on the balance of the jaw so the area above can find its own place.

This is an area where strong force should not be used, so we use gentle methods.

If needed, we use an appliance for the jaw. We've written about that decision separately (117).

What are the limits of this approach?

What shows on images and how much it hurts don't go hand in hand. Some people have rotated vertebrae and no pain.

One more thing: that's why we don't pin down the cause from imaging findings alone. If nothing changes after a few visits, we'll tell you it isn't something our approach covers.

If you have the same symptoms

1. "Nothing abnormal" confirms it isn't a serious disease — that's good news.
2. But "nothing abnormal" and "it shouldn't hurt" are two different things.
3. We look at whether the top two neck vertebrae are rotated to one side.
4. We don't handle that area forcefully — we approach it gently from the jaw.
5. We don't pin down the cause from imaging findings alone.

We look at the neck, jaw and back together. Only by finding where it started can we keep the same spot from stiffening up again and again.

If the same spot keeps stiffening, or the tension starts in your neck and climbs up to your head, come in and get measured. It doesn't take long to find where it started.

Because there are many possible causes, progress differs from person to person, even with the same care.