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Dr. Kevin Tomassini DC
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Neck Pain & Headaches

A lot of headaches don't start in your head — they start in your neck. If you're at a desk all day, this one's for you.

▶︎ What Can You Do About Cervicogenic Headaches? — from Dr. Tomassini's YouTube channel

What’s actually going on

Here’s the pattern I see all the time in the Bay Area. You’re at a laptop all day, and your head drifts forward in front of your shoulders — forward head posture. The further forward your head goes, the heavier it effectively gets, so you’re putting constant stress on the cervical spine and the muscles at the base of your skull.

That tension and misalignment can lead to neck stiffness, and it can refer pain up into your head — that’s a cervicogenic headache. So the headache you’re treating with painkillers is often coming from your neck.

What it can lead to

Keep loading the neck like that and it can lead to chronic stiffness, more frequent headaches, and over time degenerative changes in the cervical discs. The good news — it’s very fixable once you address the posture and the alignment.

What you’re going to do about it

  1. Desk setup. Eyes aligning with the top of the monitor, head on top of your shoulders. When you catch yourself hunching, bring your head back and get back to work.
  2. Adjustment. Restore movement in the cervical spine, reduce nerve pressure and muscle tension.
  3. Neck mobility. Gentle range-of-motion work to loosen what’s stiff.
  4. Deep neck strengthening. A few times a week, to hold your head where it belongs.

Fix the cause, not just the symptom — and stay consistent.

Common questions

Can neck problems cause headaches? +

Yes — these are called cervicogenic headaches. When the cervical spine is misaligned or the muscles at the base of the skull are tight, that can refer pain up into the head. Fix the neck, and very often the headaches go with it.

Why does my neck hurt from working at a computer? +

When you hunch forward at a laptop, your head drifts in front of your shoulders — that's forward head posture. Your head weighs more the further forward it goes, so that puts constant stress on the cervical spine and the muscles, and that can lead to neck pain, stiffness, and headaches.

How do I fix tech neck? +

Set up your desk right — eyes level with the top of the monitor, head on top of your shoulders. When you catch yourself hunching, bring your head back and reset. Then we add mobility and strengthening for the deep neck muscles. Consistency is what holds the correction.

Stop masking it. Let's find the cause.

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