The mid-afternoon headache is a London classic
A lot of the headaches we see arrive with a job title attached. Screen-heavy work downtown, long shifts driving the 401 corridor, a phone wedged against one shoulder all day. By three o'clock the neck is tight and the ache creeps up the back of the skull. Others come in with patterns that have nothing to do with work at all. The first job is never treatment. It is figuring out what kind of headache yours actually is.
How the exam approaches headaches
The history does most of the work. How often the headaches come, where they sit, how long they last, what sets them off and what your neck was doing in the hours before. Then we examine the neck and upper back themselves: how the joints move, where the muscles guard and whether pressing on them reproduces the familiar ache.
Headaches are also where screening matters most. A small number of patterns need medical attention rather than a chiropractor, and part of every headache exam is checking for them. If anything in your history or exam points that way, we tell you plainly and help you get to the right provider. That honesty is the whole point of examining before treating.
Your report of findings, before any treatment
After the exam, Dr. Whitfield sits down with you and explains what he found in plain language: what kind of headache pattern the exam suggests, whether the neck appears to be contributing and what he recommends. The plan and every cost go in front of you in writing before anything is treated, exactly as described in what happens at your first visit. If the honest answer is that chiropractic care is not the right tool for your headaches, that is what the report says.
What care can involve
When the exam suggests your neck is part of the picture, a plan can involve adjustment of the neck or upper back along with soft tissue work in the muscles that run up to the skull, plus guidance on the habits that keep loading them, like desk setup and how you carry a bag or a phone. Neck adjustment is never a default. It is one option, offered with its risks and alternatives explained, and only ever with your consent.
If your headaches show up at the end of long screen days, read how we assess posture and desk strain, which often shares a root with the pattern above. Headaches that arrive alongside low back pain get assessed as two complaints, not squeezed into one.
What a first visit for headaches looks like
Plan for about 45 minutes at the clinic on Wortley Rd, an easy stop in Wortley Village a few minutes from downtown London, whether you drive over after work or walk up from an Old South street. Bring a rough note of your last few headaches if you can, since dates and patterns make the history sharper. You will go through the health history and the exam, then the report of findings. If care is appropriate and you are comfortable starting, treatment can often begin the same visit. The first visit costs $95 as of June 2026 and we direct-bill most extended health plans.