07/18/2025
💥 Dry Needling for Headaches? Yes — and here’s why it works.
If your headaches start at the base of your skull and wrap around your head, you’re likely dealing with tension-type or cervicogenic headaches — both of which are commonly triggered by tight, overactive muscles in the upper neck, especially the suboccipitals.
These muscles can compress nerves, refer pain into the head, and limit cervical mobility.
✅ Dry needling targets those muscles directly, releasing trigger points and reducing the mechanical tension that contributes to your symptoms.
💬 Common benefits patients report:
• Decreased headache frequency & intensity
• Improved neck motion
• Less reliance on medication
🔍 What the research says:
• Fernández-de-las-Peñas et al. (2006): Trigger point dry needling reduces tension-type headache intensity and frequency.
• Calvo-Lobo et al. (2016): Suboccipital dry needling improves cervical ROM and pressure pain threshold.
• Gerwin et al. (2004): Myofascial trigger points in suboccipital muscles are common in cervicogenic headache cases.
If you’ve tried stretching, massage, or even medication and nothing sticks — this might be the solution. Curious if dry needling could help your headaches? Give us a call!
