Port Coquitlam Chiropractic Beats Massage for Cervicogenic Headaches

We see a considerable number of people with headaches in our Port Coquitlam office, and Northside Chiropractic has been able to provide relief for many of them. Furthermore, the World Health Organization (WHO) states that 50% of all adults have difficulty with some sort of headache condition, so this certainly isn’t surprising. One of the most prevalent sorts of headaches which our patients deal with is cervicogenic headache which, luckily, chiropractic can usually help.

What is a Cervicogenic Headache?

A cervicogenic headache is one that starts from problems in the cervical spine. It can be a result of a problem with either the spine itself (primarily, the vertebrae, joints, or discs), or it could be due to a problem in the muscles and tendons of your neck. This dysfunction in your spine contributes to compression or aggravation of the spinal nerves, which can generate headache pain.

How do you recognize if the headache you are being affected by is a cervicogenic headache? Besides obtaining a diagnosis from a healthcare specialist, a typical symptom of cervicogenic headaches is tenderness or pain in your neck. This is occasionally followed by pain in the back of your head or between your shoulder blades.

How Chiropractic Helps

Considering cervicogenic headaches will not go away until whatever problem is triggering them is corrected, it is crucial to get treatment as opposed to just trying to "wait it out." Chiropractic care is an excellent approach, and one that can provide a considerable amount of pain relief.

In one study reported in Chiropractic & Osteopathy, experts studied 80 people who had recurring cervicogenic headaches. Fifty percent were given chiropractic care and the other half engaged in light massage therapy. Each participant was examined 12 and 24 weeks after the treatment and it was found that chiropractic offered the optimum effects.

In particular, this study found that chiropractic adjustments offered patients more significant pain relief and diminished the frequency of headaches that occurred. Furthermore, it also minimized the disability that resulted from these painful headaches.

To find out what Northside Chiropractic 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/