Sunnyvale & San Francisco Chiropractic and Cervicogenic Headache

We see a considerable number of people with headaches in our Sunnyvale & San Francisco office, and Dr. Stern has been able to aid many of them. In fact, the World Health Organization (WHO) reports that 50% of all adults have difficulties with some sort of headache problem, so this actually isn’t surprising. One of the most typical sorts of headaches that our patients have problems with is cervicogenic headache which, fortunately, chiropractic can often help.

What is a Cervicogenic Headache?

A cervicogenic headache is one that comes from a problem in the cervical spine. It can easily be caused by an issue with either the spine itself (in particular, the vertebrae, joints, or discs), or it can be attributable to a problem in the muscles and tendons of your neck. This dysfunction in your spine creates compaction or irritation of the spinal nerves, which can bring about headache pain.

How can you identify if the headache you are experiencing is a cervicogenic headache? Besides receiving a diagnosis from a healthcare professional, a typical symptom of cervicogenic headaches is tenderness or pain in your neck. This is occasionally coupled with pain in the back of your head or between your shoulder blades.

How Chiropractic Helps

Seeing that cervicogenic headaches will not subside until whatever issue is inducing them is corrected, it is important to receive treatment as opposed to just trying to "wait it out." Chiropractic care is an effective solution, and one that offers a considerable amount of pain relief.

In one study published in Chiropractic & Osteopathy, specialists evaluated 80 people who had recurrent cervicogenic headaches. Fifty percent got chiropractic care and the other 50% engaged in light massage therapy. Each participant was assessed 12 and 24 weeks after the treatment and it was discovered that chiropractic delivered the optimum outcomes.

Specifically, this study revealed that chiropractic adjustments gave patients more significant pain relief and reduced the frequency of headaches that occurred. In addition, it also lessened the disability that resulted from these painful headaches.

To find out what Dr. Stern can do for you and your headache pain, call us today. We'll do our best to get you the pain relief you need!

References

• Haas M, Schneider M, Vavrek D. Illustrating risk difference and number needed to treat from a randomized controlled trial of spinal manipulation for cervicogenic headache. Chiropractic & Osteopathy 2010 18(9).
• World Health Organization. (2012, October). Headache disorders. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs277/en/