Port Coquitlam Chiropractic and Cervicogenic Headache

We see a large number of individuals with headaches in our Port Coquitlam office, and Northside Chiropractic has been able to aid many of them. In fact, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 50% of all adults have difficulty with some sort of headache condition, so this actually isn’t unexpected. One of the most common types of headaches which our patients have problems with is cervicogenic headache which, luckily, chiropractic can generally help.

What is a Cervicogenic Headache?

A cervicogenic headache is one that starts from a problem in the cervical spine. It can be generated by a problem with either the spine itself (in particular, the vertebrae, joints, or discs), or it may be attributable to a problem in the muscles and tendons of your neck. This dysfunction in your spine contributes to constriction or aggravation of the spinal nerves, which can bring on headache pain.

How do you identify if the headache you are enduring is a cervicogenic headache? Other than being given a diagnosis from a healthcare specialist, a frequent symptom of cervicogenic headaches is tenderness or discomfort in your neck. This is sometimes accompanied by pain in the back of your head or between your shoulder blades.

How Chiropractic Helps

Seeing that cervicogenic headaches will not go away until whatever issue is inducing them is corrected, it is vital to get treatment rather than just trying to "wait it out." Chiropractic care is an excellent approach, and one that provides a great deal of headache pain relief.

In one study reported in Chiropractic & Osteopathy, researchers studied 80 people who had recurring cervicogenic headaches. Half of them were given chiropractic care and the other half underwent light massage therapy. Each participant was assessed 12 and 24 weeks after the procedures and it was discovered that chiropractic offered the optimum results.

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

To find out what Northside Chiropractic can do for you and your headaches, call our office today. We'll do our best to get you the pain relief you deserve!

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/