When It’s Not “Just a Headache”: When the Brain and Body Are Overloaded

Headaches are one of the most common—and most misunderstood—symptoms in this population.

You or your child might experience:

  • frequent headaches or migraines

  • pressure in the head or behind the eyes

  • light or sound sensitivity

  • dizziness, nausea, or fatigue with headaches

  • a “heavy,” foggy, or fuzzy feeling in the head

And often, you’re told:

  • “It’s just headaches”

  • “It’s migraines”

  • “It’s probably stress or anxiety”

But for many people, headaches are not just one thing.

They are a signal that multiple systems—neurological, structural, and sensory—are working harder to regulate.

The different types of headaches (and how they overlap)

Headaches don’t come from just one place.

They often come from multiple layers at once.

1. Structural and tension-based headaches

These are related to:

  • muscle tension

  • posture

  • joint instability

Especially in individuals with:

  • Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder

  • Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome

What is the “coat hanger” area?

The coat hanger area refers to:

  • the back of the neck

  • the tops of the shoulders

  • the upper back between the shoulder blades

👉 Where a coat hanger would sit across your shoulders

What it feels like

  • deep aching or heaviness

  • tightness or pressure

  • burning or muscle fatigue

  • pain that builds throughout the day

👉 This area works overtime to stabilize the head and neck

Neck instability and flexible necks

In hypermobility, the neck can be more flexible than expected, which changes how the head is supported.

This can include:

  • Craniocervical Instability

  • Occipital Instability (less formally labeled, but often used clinically to describe instability where the skull meets the spine)

These patterns can contribute to:

  • headaches at the base of the skull

  • pressure or heaviness in the head

  • dizziness or “off” feeling

  • symptoms that worsen with posture, screens, or holding the head up for long periods

👉 The head/neck junction is working harder to stabilize—and the system feels it

2. Migraine and atypical migraine patterns

Migraines don’t always look “classic.”

They can include:

  • Migraine

  • Vestibular Migraine

  • Ocular Migraine

Symptoms may include:

  • light or sound sensitivity

  • nausea

  • dizziness

  • visual changes

  • brain fog

  • sometimes minimal head pain

3. Nerve-related headache and facial pain patterns

These are often overlooked—and frequently misunderstood.

⚡ Ice pick headaches

Primary Stabbing Headache

  • sudden, sharp, stabbing pain

  • lasts seconds

  • can occur randomly

😣 Trigeminal nerve pain (face and jaw)

Trigeminal Neuralgia

  • electric, shock-like pain

  • face, jaw, teeth, or eye

  • triggered by touch, chewing, temperature

🔁 TMJ + trigeminal overlap

Conditions like:

  • Temporomandibular Joint Disorder

can contribute to:

  • jaw pain or clicking

  • facial tension

  • headaches near the temples

  • pain radiating into the face

👉 Often a jaw + nerve + muscle interaction

🔁 Occipital nerve pain

Occipital Neuralgia

  • starts at the base of the skull

  • radiates up the back of the head

  • sharp, burning, or shooting

  • scalp sensitivity

👉 Often overlaps with:

  • coat hanger pain

  • neck instability

  • hypermobility

4. Centralized / nervous system headaches

When the nervous system is more sensitive, it can:

  • amplify signals

  • respond quickly to triggers

  • take longer to calm

This leads to:

  • frequent headaches

  • lower tolerance for light/sound

  • unpredictable patterns

👉 The system is:
turning up the volume

5. Pressure-related headaches

Another often-missed pattern:

Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension

What this can feel like

  • pressure in the head

  • pain behind the eyes

  • worse when lying down or bending

  • visual symptoms

  • pulsing or whooshing in the ears

What this feels like (especially for kids)

Kids may not say “headache.”

They may say:

  • “my head feels weird”

  • “my brain feels fuzzy”

  • “my head feels heavy”

  • “I feel off”

Or show:

  • irritability

  • shutdown

  • fatigue

  • trouble focusing

Brain fog vs headache (and why they overlap)

What someone feels may be:

  • brain fog

  • sensory overload

  • early migraine

  • fatigue

  • head pain

👉 These often happen together

How headaches overlap with other systems

  • Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome

  • Mast Cell Activation Syndrome

  • hypermobility

  • sleep

  • sensory processing

👉 These systems amplify each other

Why this can look like anxiety

Headaches can trigger:

  • dizziness

  • nausea

  • disorientation

👉 Which feels like panic

But the pattern is:
body → brain → anxiety (not the other way around)

A grounded takeaway

Headaches in this population are rarely “just headaches.”

They can be:

  • structural

  • nerve-based

  • instability-related

  • pressure-related

  • sensory

  • and systemic

They can look like anxiety.
They can feel confusing.
They can be hard to describe—especially for kids.

But sometimes, they’re not just stress.

They’re a signal that the brain, neck, nerves, and body are all working harder to regulate.