Conditions
Neck pain and headaches
The second most common reason people come, and the one where the sore spot is least often the cause.
What it usually feels like
Often a stiff neck that will turn one way and not the other, with an ache into the shoulder blade by the end of a working day. Some people wake with it two or three times a month and can't get comfortable on any pillow.
Headaches that come from the neck usually start at the base of the skull and settle behind one eye or across the temple. They build through the day rather than arriving suddenly, and they are often worse on days spent at a screen. Jaw tension and teeth grinding travel with them.
Pins and needles into the arm or hand, or a grip that has weakened, is a different conversation. Say so when you book.
What I'd look at first
How the neck moves in each direction and which segments aren't contributing; the upper ribs and shoulder blades, which carry more of this than people expect; and the jaw. For headaches I want the pattern — where it starts, what time of day, how often, what stops it.
I'll also ask about your desk, your phone, your pillow and your sleep. Not to lecture you about posture, but because they set how much treatment has to overcome each week.
What treatment usually involves
Adjusting and soft tissue work through the neck, upper back and shoulders for most people. For headaches and jaw tension I often use CranioSacral therapy, which is very light hands-on work with no adjusting and no force, and acupuncture where the muscles are the driver. Necks that don't like being adjusted don't have to be.
When it isn't chiropractic
A headache that is the worst you have ever had, one that arrives suddenly like a switch, a headache with fever or with visual or speech changes, or a new headache pattern after a head injury needs medical assessment, not me — and in some of those cases the same day. Migraine that is well established often belongs with your doctor as well, though neck treatment can sit alongside it. I'll tell you plainly which of these I think you are.
Realistic expectations
Necks often respond quickly. Headaches are usually a question of frequency before intensity — fewer of them first, then milder ones. If a few visits have made no difference to either, I'll say so rather than book more.