For instance, an athlete who suffers from a blow to the shoulder and sustains some muscle and ligament injury, could develop dizziness and sinus headaches because, at the spinal cord level, this injury is stimulating the cervical sympathetic nervous system and too many secretions are being produced by the glands in the face.

Unfortunately, most team physicians, coaches, physiotherapists, and athletic trainers are not aware of the intricate connections between the autonomic nervous system and the somatic nervous system; so an athlete's other symptoms, besides pain, are just covered up by medications and not cured.

The parasympathetic division is generally concerned with conserving and restoring energy. Since the sympathetic division has been nicknamed the "flight-or-fight" division, the parasympathetic division could appropriately be named the "rest-and-digest," division. In regards to digestion, it increases salivary and stomach secretions. In the lungs and the heart, it decreases the heart rate and constricts the bronchi. It has a part in facial and headache pain. If the parasympathetic system is too active, dilation of blood vessels is seen, causing headache and the associated symptoms of cluster headache and Barre-Lieou Syndrome, such as increased tearing, conjunctival redness as well as secretion accumulation in the sinuses (causing sinus headaches) and the inner ear (possibly causing dizziness, vertigo, or ringing in the ear). Knowledge of the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems gives an explanation for the bizarre symptoms people with neck pain and headaches suffer. Unfortunately, most athletic trainers and orthopedic surgeons do not have knowledge of these structures and have never heard of the condition that is responsible for most chronic migraines and other headaches, Barre-Lieou Syndrome.

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