Physical therapy
In addition to medicines, physical therapy is a treatment to help improve chronic headaches. In physical therapy, a patient works together with a therapist to help identify and change physical habits or conditions that affect chronic headaches. Physical therapy for chronic daily headaches focuses on the upper body, including the upper back, neck, and face. Therapists assess and improve the patient's body posture, which can aggravate headaches. During office sessions, therapists use manual therapy, such as a massage, stretching, or joint movement to release muscle tension. Other methods to relax muscles include heat packs, ice packs, and "electrical stimulation". Therapists also teach chronic headache sufferers at-home exercises to strengthen and stretch muscles that may be triggering headaches. In physical therapy, the patient must take an active role to practice exercises and make changes to his or her lifestyle for there to be improvement.