Headache and Migraine Clinics in Auckland: Where to Go for What (2026)

Written and clinically reviewed by Dr. Jun (Jun Chung): Doctor of Chiropractic (New Zealand College of Chiropractic), NZCC- and ACC-registered, 13+ years' clinical practice. Auckland Wellness Centre, Rosedale and Milford. Last updated: August 2026 · next scheduled review: August 2027.

Quick answer: Auckland has no single headache clinic that covers everything. If your headache tracks with your neck, posture or an old neck injury, a chiropractic assessment can measure that directly and treat it. If it does not, the assessment tells you that too, and you are referred to the pathway that fits. Injury-related headache care is ACC covered without a GP referral.

Searching for a headache clinic in Auckland turns up a confusing mix: neurology practices, physiotherapy clinics, appearance medicine clinics offering Botox, chiropractors and acupuncturists. They are not competing to do the same job. They are doing different jobs, and the reason people bounce between them for months is that nobody explains which job is which.

This guide sets out who does what, what it costs, what ACC covers, and how we work out which one you need.

Who does what in Auckland

Fees vary between providers and change over time, so treat the cost column as a starting point and confirm when you book.

How we work out which one you need

The first visit is a sorting job before it is a treatment job. Three things happen, in this order.

1. We screen for anything urgent. Most headaches are benign. A small number are signs of something that needs same-day medical care, and picking those up is the first thing any headache assessment should do. We check for sudden-onset headache reaching peak intensity within about a minute, headache with fever and a stiff neck, headache with weakness, numbness, facial droop, slurred speech or vision loss, headache after a significant head injury, and headache with a first seizure. If any of those are present you are sent straight to emergency care rather than onto a treatment table. We also check for patterns that belong with your GP first: a headache pattern that has clearly changed, a new headache over 50, headache that is consistently worse lying down or straining, and pain relief being taken on most days of the week, which can drive a rebound pattern of its own.

2. We test whether your neck is driving it. This is the question that decides everything else. We record your standing posture with PostureScreen, measure cervical range of motion in degrees on both sides, and run orthopaedic testing to see whether your usual headache reproduces from the neck. Where it is clinically indicated we refer you directly for a lateral cervical X-ray so the curve is measured rather than estimated. Our chiropractors refer directly for X-ray and ultrasound, so there is no GP appointment in between.

3. We route you accordingly. If the neck is involved, there is something concrete to treat and a measurable plan to treat it with. If it is not, you are referred on to the pathway that addresses the cause: your GP for diagnosis, or a neurologist where a prescription pathway is the right answer. Either way you leave the first visit knowing which kind of headache you have and who should be handling it. That answer on its own is often what people have been missing for months.

Is there a headache clinic on the North Shore?

Not in the sense of a dedicated headache-only clinic. The specialist headache clinics and private neurology practices sit mostly in central and west Auckland, which means a drive and, for neurology, a GP referral and a private fee.

What the North Shore does have is providers who assess and treat the neck as a headache driver: physiotherapists, chiropractors and acupuncturists in Takapuna, Albany, Milford, Glenfield and Rosedale. If your headache has a neck component, that is the part that can be assessed and treated locally without a referral, and it is worth finding out early rather than after six visits somewhere else.

What we measure before treating a headache

Headache care is unusually easy to run on impressions. Something feels a bit better, then a bit worse, and three months later nobody can say whether anything changed. Ours is built so that it can be checked.

At the first visit we record:

• Forward head translation in millimetres, from a PostureScreen standing capture
• Head tilt and rotation in degrees
• Cervical range of motion in degrees, both sides, in rotation, side bending, flexion and extension
• Orthopaedic and, where there are arm symptoms, neurological testing
• A lateral cervical X-ray on referral where it is clinically indicated, so the curve is measured rather than estimated

Those figures set the plan. Mirror image adjusting is directed at the segments that test as restricted, Denneroll cervical traction is prescribed for the curve itself, and Win Trac decompression is added where a disc is involved. Few Auckland clinics run all three, and combining them is the point rather than any one on its own.

The same measurements are repeated at 6 and 12 weeks against your own starting numbers rather than against an average. If they are not moving, the plan changes. The full list of what gets measured, and in what units, is on our spinal and posture assessment page.

Is headache treatment covered by ACC?

It depends on whether an injury is behind it. ACC covers treatment for injury-related conditions, so a headache that started after a car crash, a fall, a sports impact or a work injury is generally claimable. A headache with no injury behind it is not an ACC matter and is charged privately, whoever you see.

Two practical points that catch people out:

• You do not need a GP referral. Chiropractors and physiotherapists are ACC treatment providers, so you can book directly and the claim is lodged at the first visit. At Auckland Wellness Centre the ACC45 is lodged by your chiropractor.
• Acupuncture runs under the same claim. It is concurrent treatment for the same injury rather than a separate claim, which is why it is your chiropractor who lodges it.

Delayed onset does not disqualify you. Headache appearing days after a crash is common, and claims can generally be lodged well after the event.

How to choose, in order

1. If any of the urgent signs above apply, that decision is made for you: emergency care first.
2. If the headache is new, changed, or it is a first headache over 50, see your GP. Diagnosis first, treatment second.
3. If your headache tracks with your neck, posture, desk work or an old neck injury, book an assessment with a provider who examines the upper neck and writes the findings down. Ask what they will measure and when they will re-measure.
4. If an injury is behind it, start the ACC claim early. It costs nothing to have the claim open and it takes the fee question out of the decision.
5. If you are not sure which of these you are, an ACC-covered assessment is the low-cost way to find out, because it ends either in a plan or in a referral.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a GP referral to see a chiropractor for headaches? No. Chiropractors are ACC-registered primary providers in New Zealand, so you book directly. If the headache is injury-related, the ACC45 is lodged at your first visit.

What happens if my neck turns out not to be the problem? We refer you on to the pathway that fits, your GP for diagnosis or a neurologist where a prescription pathway is needed, rather than continuing to treat. Finding that out at the first visit is a result in itself.

How long before I know whether it is working? Ask for a review point before you commit. We re-measure at 6 and 12 weeks against your own baseline. Any provider should be able to tell you when they will check and what they will check.

Is an X-ray necessary for headaches? Usually not. We refer when the curve itself is the question and posture photographs cannot answer it, when symptoms have not responded to a reasonable course of care, when there is a history of significant trauma, or when there are neurological findings. An X-ray that cannot change the plan is not worth the exposure.

Can I see a neurologist and a chiropractor at the same time? Yes, and where a diagnosed headache also has a neck component that is often the sensible combination, because they address different parts of the problem.

What does it cost on the North Shore? At Auckland Wellness Centre, chiropractic is $40 per visit on an accepted ACC claim, or $105 initial and $70 follow-up privately. ACC acupuncture is $0 to $20 depending on the practitioner. Private neurology is not ACC funded and is charged privately, so ask for the consultation fee when you book.

This article is general information, not a diagnosis. If you are unsure about a headache, see your GP. Auckland Wellness Centre sees patients at E2/27 William Pickering Drive, Rosedale (09 600 1939) and 177B Shakespeare Road, Milford (09 281 3687). Headache and migraine services are set out on our headache and migraine page.