Headache: Myth or Fact?
Four things people are sure cause their headaches. Can you tell which hold up — and which don’t? Guess each one before you reveal the answer.
“A straightened neck — ‘tech neck’ — causes my headaches.”
“My neck lost its curve, so that’s why my head hurts.” — a clinic regular
The idea that a straightened neck curve itself causes headache rests on weak evidence. Plenty of people whose imaging shows a “straight neck” have no headaches at all, and people with a perfectly normal curve get headaches. A shared finding on a scan is not the same as a cause.
Headache that genuinely starts in the neck — cervicogenic headache — is real, but it has strict criteria: side-locked pain, reproduced by specific neck movements, and relieved by a diagnostic nerve block. Most so-called “neck headaches” are actually migraine or tension-type headache with neck tightness riding along. Chasing the posture alone delays treating the real cause.
What a true neck-origin headache looks like →“High blood pressure causes headaches.”
“If my head hurts, the first thing I do is check my blood pressure.” — very common belief
Everyday high blood pressure (say 140/90 or 150/100) does not cause headaches. Large studies have not found a causal link between mild-to-moderate hypertension and headache.
For blood pressure to actually produce a headache, it has to be extremely high — a hypertensive crisis, with the diastolic (lower) number above about 220 mmHg. That is far beyond the readings most people worry about day to day; at those everyday levels, the pressure is simply not the culprit.
Often the direction is reversed: the pain and stress of a headache push your blood pressure up temporarily — the headache isn’t caused by the number. That’s why “my head hurts, so let’s increase the blood-pressure medicine” so often misses.
“My upset stomach / indigestion is giving me a headache.”
“I feel bloated and queasy, and then my head starts pounding.” — a frequent complaint
The order is backwards. That “indigestion” feeling — bloating, nausea, food sitting heavy — is usually not the cause of the headache. It’s often an early or accompanying symptom of a migraine that is already starting.
Migraine begins in the brain, but along the way it slows the gut (gastric stasis), producing nausea, queasiness, and that “can’t digest” sensation. So it isn’t “indigestion gave me a headache” — it’s “a migraine is here, and it’s making my stomach feel off.”
If antacids or digestive remedies never seem to fix it, that’s a clue you’re dealing with migraine, not a stomach problem.
“Chocolate triggers migraines.”
“I gave up chocolate because it gives me headaches.” — a common self-diagnosis
Chocolate has been blamed as a classic “migraine food” for decades — but controlled studies have failed to show that chocolate actually triggers migraine.
If anything, the truth runs the other way. In the prodrome — the hours before the pain — the migraine brain drives a strong craving for sweets, so you reach for chocolate. When the headache arrives a few hours later, it’s easy to blame the chocolate you just ate.
In other words, chocolate is often not the trigger, but a signal — a craving from a migraine that has already begun. Rather than cutting out an innocent food, it’s more useful to read that craving as an early warning that a headache is on its way.
Every answer was “False”
Headaches attract an unusual number of myths. While you’re chasing the wrong cause — posture, blood pressure, digestion, food — the real diagnosis and treatment get delayed. Most “headaches that won’t get better” aren’t rare diseases; they’re common headaches that were never named precisely.
If you want a specialist’s eyes on which pattern actually fits you:
© 2026 HeadacheFree.Doctor · Dr. Tae Ho Guak, MD — Neurologist