Sharp, burning, stabbing, or electrical pain in the back of your head, scalp, or behind your eye may lead to a diagnosis of occipital neuralgia or trigeminal neuralgia. But does that mean the nerve itself is the underlying problem?

In this episode of the Headache Doctor Podcast, Dr. Taves explains how to tell whether your symptoms may involve more than the nerve—and why your neck could be an important part of the picture.

He breaks down the anatomy behind occipital and trigeminal nerve pain, referred pain, and the trigeminal cervical complex. He also shares clues that may point toward neck involvement, including restricted neck movement, symptoms triggered by posture or prolonged sitting, tenderness at the base of the skull, and pain that begins in the neck and travels upward.

You’ll also learn why Dr. Taves cautions against assuming that relief from a nerve block, injection, medication, or ablation proves the nerve itself was the original source of the problem—and what he recommends looking at instead.

Plus, in Ask the Headache Doctor, Dr. Taves responds to people who spent years trying to get providers to recognize the connection between their neck pain and headaches or migraines.

👉 Get your questions about occipital neuralgia, trigeminal neuralgia, and neck-related headaches answered inside our FREE Virtual Headache & Migraine Community: https://www.skool.com/headache-freedom/about 👉

Novera: Headache Center

If you’ve been diagnosed with vestibular migraine—or you live with ongoing dizziness, vertigo, or that constant “on a ship” feeling—there may be an important part of the picture that hasn’t been fully evaluated.

In this episode of The Headache Doctor Podcast, Dr. Taves explains why our healthcare system can miss the underlying cause of vestibular migraine—and what to look for instead.

He breaks down the three systems your brain relies on for balance and orientation:

• The visual system
• The vestibular system
• The neck and proprioceptive system

While the inner ear is often evaluated thoroughly, and vision is sometimes considered, Dr. Taves explains why neck function is frequently overlooked—even though your brain depends on information from the neck to understand where your head and body are in space.

You’ll also learn:

• How BPPV differs from other types of dizziness
• Why visual coordination matters
• How neck tension and altered proprioception may contribute to dizziness
• Why vestibular migraine is often multifactorial
• What to look for when testing has not given you a clear answer

Plus, in Ask the Headache Doctor, Dr. Taves answers questions about food triggers and migraine threshold, and explains how Novera’s neck treatment approach differs from chiropractic manipulation.

👉 Get your questions about vestibular migraine, dizziness, and neck-related headaches answered inside our FREE Virtual Headache & Migraine Community: https://www.skool.com/headache-freedom/about 

Novera: Headache Center

What if chronic pain isn't simply something to silence—but a message your body is trying to send?

In this episode of the Headache Doctor Podcast, Dr. Taves sits down with Leigh Brandon, author of Beyond the Pain, functional medicine provider, manual therapist, and C.H.E.K practitioner, to explore why some people remain stuck in chronic pain despite medications, injections, exercises, or even surgery.

Leigh breaks chronic pain down into four potential root-cause categories:

• Structural and biomechanical problems
• Metabolic factors like nutrition, digestion, hormones, and inflammation
• Nervous system dysregulation and sensitization
• Emotional factors and trauma

They also discuss why pain can be protective rather than simply harmful, how the nervous system can remain hypersensitive after an injury has healed, and practical ways to start identifying patterns behind your own symptoms.

If you've been in pain for years and feel like you've already tried everything, this conversation offers a different framework for understanding what your body may be telling you.

👉 Get your questions about chronic pain, headaches, migraines, and finding the root cause answered inside our FREE Virtual Headache & Migraine Community: https://www.skool.com/headache-freedom/about 

Novera: Headache Center

What does it actually mean if you have migraine with aura vs. migraine without aura—and should that distinction determine how you approach treatment?

In this episode of the Headache Doctor Podcast, Dr. Taves explains why visual disturbances, light and sound sensitivity, numbness, and other neurological symptoms can feel alarming, but focusing entirely on those symptoms may keep you from asking a more important question: What's making the system so sensitive in the first place?

You'll learn:

• What migraine aura can look and feel like
• Why some people experience aura without significant head pain
• How the trigeminal cervical complex processes signals from the head, face, and neck
• Why migraine symptoms can vary dramatically from person to person
• How the jaw, occipital nerves, and upper neck may contribute to the pain pathway
• Why chasing individual symptoms can lead to a cycle of trigger avoidance and symptom management

Plus, in Ask the Headache Doctor, Dr. Taves answers questions about treating the upper neck with cervical instability and why Botox may work for migraines for years before seemingly stopping.

👉 Get your questions about migraine with aura, unusual migraine symptoms, neck-related headaches, and finding the root cause answered inside our FREE Virtual Headache & Migraine Community: https://www.skool.com/headache-freedom/about 👉

Novera: Headache Center

What if your migraine diagnosis isn't necessarily wrong—but it isn't telling you the whole story?

In this episode of the Headache Doctor Podcast, Dr. Taves shares five clues that your headaches or migraines may have an overlooked neck-related component. Instead of looking only at symptoms like nausea, light sensitivity, throbbing, and one-sided pain, he explains why it's important to ask what's actually driving your nervous system to become so sensitive in the first place.

The 5 clues he breaks down are:

1. Your pain starts in—or is connected to—your neck
2. Weather and barometric pressure changes trigger your symptoms
3. Exercise triggers a headache or migraine
4. Your symptoms are consistently one-sided
5. You have ongoing jaw, neck, or shoulder tension

Dr. Taves also explains why normal X-rays, MRIs, or CT scans don't necessarily tell you how well your neck is moving or functioning—and why these clues may warrant a closer look at the neck, jaw, and shoulders.

Plus, in Ask the Headache Doctor, Dr. Taves answers questions about distinguishing cervicogenic headaches from migraines and the role hormonal changes may play in migraine threshold.

If you've had migraines for years, tried medication after medication, and still feel like you're missing an explanation, this episode will give you five specific things to consider.

👉 Get your questions about migraine diagnosis, neck-related headaches, and finding the root cause answered inside our FREE Virtual Headache & Migraine Community: https://www.skool.com/headache-freedom/about 👉

Novera: Headache Center

Could what’s happening in your gut be affecting how vulnerable you are to migraines?

In this episode of the Headache Doctor Podcast, Dr. Taves sits down with functional health practitioner Taylor Knese of Mod Health Co. to explore the connection between gut health, hormones, stress, inflammation, and migraine threshold.

They break down how the gut communicates with the brain, why digestion and bowel movements can offer clues about your overall health, and how imbalances involving estrogen, histamine, stress, and the gut microbiome may contribute to a lower migraine threshold.

You’ll learn:

• How the gut and brain communicate through the vagus nerve
• Why gut health may influence inflammation and migraine threshold
• The connection between estrogen, histamine, and hormonal migraines
• How chronic stress can affect digestion and gut motility
• What your bowel movements may reveal about your digestive health
• Why walking, sleep, chewing your food, and eating a diverse whole-food diet matter
• How gut health fits into a bigger, whole-body approach to migraines

If you’ve focused on your headaches but never considered your digestion, hormones, or gut health, this conversation may help you see another piece of the migraine puzzle.

Special Offer from Mod Health Co: Use discount code DRTAVES with Mod Health Co. to receive the listener discount mentioned in this episode. 

👉 Get your questions about gut health, hormones, migraine triggers, and improving your migraine threshold answered inside our FREE Virtual Headache & Migraine Community: https://www.skool.com/headache-freedom/about 👉

Novera: Headache Center

Do your headaches build throughout the day—then sometimes turn into a migraine?

In this episode of the Headache Doctor Podcast, Dr. Taves explains why tension headaches and migraines may not be two completely separate problems. A band-like headache, neck tightness, and shoulder tension can build over time, while a more irritated joint in the upper neck may create a sharper, one-sided migraine pattern.

Rather than treating one as a muscle problem and the other as a neurological problem, Dr. Taves looks at both through one unified lens: the mechanics of the neck, shoulders, and jaw.

You’ll learn:

• Why tension headaches often worsen throughout the day
• How prolonged sitting and forward posture load the neck and shoulders
• Why a broad, band-like headache feels different from a one-sided migraine
• How both patterns may still come from related mechanical problems
• Practical ways to reduce tension, move more, and build resilience

Plus, in this week’s Ask the Headache Doctor segment, Dr. Taves answers questions about headaches after sitting through several classes, migraines that continue despite healthy lifestyle changes, and being told migraines are “all stress.”

👉 Get your questions about tension headaches, migraines, neck tension, and finding the root cause answered inside our FREE Virtual Headache & Migraine Community: https://www.skool.com/headache-freedom/about 👉

Novera: Headache Center

Is migraine really a neurological disease—or could your neck be the missing piece?

In this episode of the Headache Doctor Podcast, Dr. Taves challenges one of the most common beliefs about migraines. He explains why a migraine diagnosis is based on symptoms—not necessarily the underlying cause—and why many people continue searching for answers after normal MRIs, CT scans, and medications.

You'll learn how the neck, jaw, and shoulders can send pain into the same pathways that process migraine symptoms, why imaging often misses the real problem, and a simple self-assessment you can do at home to see whether your neck may be contributing to your headaches.

You'll learn:

• Why migraine is a diagnosis based on symptoms
• What MRIs and CT scans are actually designed to rule out
• How the trigeminal nerve processes head and facial pain
• Why neck dysfunction can create migraine-like symptoms
• Why medications manage symptoms but don't identify the source
• Four simple ways to assess whether your neck may be involved

If you've been told your scans are normal but you're still living with chronic migraines, this episode may change the way you think about what's really causing your symptoms.

👉 Get your questions about migraines, neck-related headaches, and finding the root cause answered inside our Free Virtual Headache & Migraine Community: https://www.skool.com/headache-freedom/about 👉

Novera: Headache Center

Is your dizziness coming from your inner ear… your eyes… or something almost everyone overlooks?

In this episode of the Headache Doctor Podcast, Dr. Taves explains why dizziness, vertigo, and vestibular migraines are often more complex than they seem. He breaks down the three major systems that help your brain maintain balance—and why treating only one or two of them may leave you searching for answers.

You'll learn:

• The difference between dizziness, vertigo, and vestibular migraine
• How the inner ear contributes to balance problems
• Why your visual system may be making dizziness worse
• The often-overlooked role your neck plays in balance and vestibular symptoms
• Why normal testing doesn't always rule out the true source of your symptoms
• How addressing all three systems may lead to better long-term outcomes

Plus, in this week's Ask The Headache Doctor segment, Dr. Taves answers listener questions about:

• Being told dizziness is "just stress"
• Vestibular testing that seemed to make symptoms worse
• When to keep pursuing answers after you've hit a dead end

If you've been living with unexplained dizziness, vertigo, or vestibular migraines, this episode will help you better understand what could be driving your symptoms—and why one important piece is often missed.

👉 Get your questions about dizziness, vertigo, vestibular migraine, and finding the root cause answered inside our FREE Virtual Headache & Migraine Community: https://www.skool.com/headache-freedom/about 👉

Novera: Headache Center

What exactly is a cervicogenic headache, and could it be the diagnosis that's been missing all along?

In this episode of the Headache Doctor Podcast, Dr. Taves explains one of the most overlooked diagnoses in headache care—a headache that originates from the neck. He discusses why neck dysfunction is frequently mistaken for migraine, why imaging often fails to identify the real problem, and how using the right language with your healthcare providers could completely change your treatment approach.

You'll learn:

• What a cervicogenic headache is
• Why neck problems are often mistaken for migraines
• How neck dysfunction can refer pain into the head, face, and behind the eye
• Why X-rays and MRIs don't always identify the underlying issue
• Questions to ask your doctor or physical therapist
• Why improving neck function may help reduce headaches instead of simply masking symptoms

Plus, Dr. Taves answers listener questions about:

• Chronic headaches after whiplash
• Migraines triggered by lifting grocery bags
• Whether triptans prove you have migraines
• Daily headaches that start behind one eye

If you've been told everything looks "normal" but you're still living with headaches or migraines, this episode may change the way you think about your diagnosis—and your path toward recovery.

👉 Get your questions about neck-related headaches, cervicogenic headaches, migraine symptoms, and finding the root cause answered inside our Free Virtual Headache & Migraine Community: https://www.skool.com/headache-freedom/about 👉

Novera: Headache Center