Cairns Headache and Migraine Clinic

29/09/2025

16/07/2025

🎉 2 Weeks Only! 20% Off All Stock at Proactive Physio 🎉
Need a new heat pack, brace, or massage ball?

From 21st July – 31st July, we’re giving 20% off ALL stock in clinic!

Whether it’s for your recovery, your next event, or a thoughtful gift, now’s the perfect time to stock up.
📍 Visit us at Proactive Physiotherapy, grab your favourites, and save while you can!

Hurry, only for 2 weeks!

02/06/2025

Support Bowel Cancer Awareness Month

From managing bowel and bladder function to improving core strength and reducing pelvic pain, specialised physio plays a key role in your recovery journey. You're not alone — support is here!

02/05/2025

23/04/2025

🧠💚 Relief from Headaches and Migraines is Possible – Right Here in Cairns! 💚🧠

Do you, or someone you love suffer from chronic headaches or migraines?

At the Cairns Headache & Migraine Clinic (CHMC), we specialise in helping people just like you find lasting relief – without relying on medication.

We proudly use the Watson Headache® Approach, a world-renowned, drug-free method that identifies and treats the underlying cause of headache and migraine symptoms.

✅ Suitable for adults & teens
✅ Drug-free, hands-on treatment
✅ No referral needed
✅ Local, experienced practitioners

You're not alone – and you don’t have to “just live with it.”

📍 Convenient Cairns location
📞 Call us on 40536222 to book your assessment
🌐 https://www.proactivephysio.com.au/
✨ Let’s get you back to living pain-free.

22/04/2025

See the below blog regarding the Watson Headache Technique

… an unparalleled diagnostic and treatment approach identifying disorders of the upper neck as the cause of headache and migraine

10/06/2024

DOUBLE YOUR DONATION
Hey, I'm smashing out a heap of push-ups in The Push-Up Challenge this month to push for better mental health in Australia. I'm raising funds for The Push For Better Foundation and would love your support, no matter how big or small. Your donation will be matched (that means it'll double in value) if you donate from 10am AEST on 12 June (as long as your donation is within the first $100,000 of donations). You can donate to my fundraising page here: https://www.thepushupchallenge.com.au/fundraisers/juliefaulks397606/the-push-up-challenge Thanks for your support! Together, we're making a difference to mental health in Australia. 7th

Help raise funds for much-needed mental health services and initiatives by donating to my page. I’m completing The Push-Up Challenge to support this great cause and would love your help to reach my fundraising target.

09/12/2022

Determining if the Upper Neck is Relevant in Cervicogenic and Primary Headache

Head pain occurs when normal signals from structures within the head and abnormal signals from the upper neck merge in the top part of the spinal cord. Together the normal and abnormal information then travels to the brain. The brain incorrectly interprets the abnormal information (which came from the neck) as coming from inside the head, and head pain is produced. (1)

One of the confusing phenomena about Cervicogenic Headache is that its symptoms can present as Migraine, Tension Headache or even Cluster Headache. (2-6)

So even though your headache may have been diagnosed as Migraine, Tension Headache, Cluster Headache etc., it may actually be a ‘Cervicogenic Headache’... and there is one feature, which confirms that the upper neck is responsible for headache, and that is the behaviour of head pain.

If a headache is a one-sided headache, which, for example occurs on the left, and the next episode on the right, that is, it swaps sides between episodes (or within the same episode) or similarly, a headache on both sides of the head at the same time, but is stronger on the left and other times on the right, this confirms that the neck is responsible for headache. (2,5)

Ironically though, even if headache does not have any of these features it still could be Cervicogenic Headache. In this case, a physical examination by a practitioner specifically (post-graduate) trained in examination of the upper cervical spine is required to confirm or rule out a neck disorder as the cause of headache or migraine. (3,5)

References:
1. Bogduk N. Headaches and the cervical spine. Cephalalgia. Mar 1984;4(1):7-8.
2. Rothbart P. The cervicogenic headache: A pain in the neck. Can J Diagnos 1996; 13: 64–71.
3. Watson DH, Drummond PD. Head pain referral during examination of the neck in migraine and tension-type headache. Headache 2102 52; 8:1226 - 1235.
4. Gallagher R, Cervicogenic Headache; A special report. Expert Rev. Neurotherapeutics 2007;7(10) 1279-83
5. Watson DH, Drummond PD Cervical Referral of Head Pain in Migraineurs: Effects on the Nociceptive Blink Reflex. Headache 2014;54:1035-1045)
6. Goadsby PJ, Bartsch T. Anatomy and physiology of pain referral patterns in primary and cervicogenic headache disorders. Headache Currents 2005;10:42-48.

Find out more by going to https://bit.ly/2HH69iO.

22/04/2022