Kettering Chiropractic Effective for Cervicogenic Headache

We see a large number of people with headaches in our Kettering office, and Dr. Poelking has been able to support many of them. In fact, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that one half of all adults have difficulty with some sort of headache problems, so this actually isn’t surprising. One of the most prevalent sorts of headaches that our patients are afflicted with is cervicogenic headache which, thankfully, chiropractic can usually help.

What is a Cervicogenic Headache?

A cervicogenic headache is one that comes from issues in the cervical spine. It can easily be because of an issue with either the spine itself (particularly, the vertebrae, joints, or discs), or it could be attributable to a problem in the muscles and tendons of your neck. This dysfunction in your spine produces constriction or aggravation of the spinal nerves, which can bring about headache pain.

How can you identify if the headache you are feeling is a cervicogenic headache? Besides receiving a diagnosis from a healthcare expert, a common 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.

Headache Relief with Chiropractic

Considering cervicogenic headaches will not go away until whatever issue is causing them is corrected, it is vital to receive treatment as opposed to just trying to "wait it out." Chiropractic care is an excellent approach, and one that offers a considerable amount of headache pain relief.

In one study published in Chiropractic & Osteopathy, experts followed 80 people who had repeated cervicogenic headaches. One-half were given chiropractic care and the other 50% 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 outcomes.

In particular, this study found that chiropractic adjustments offered patients greater pain relief and lessened the frequency of headaches that occurred. On top of that, it also minimized the disability that resulted from these painful headaches.

To find out what Dr. Poelking can do for you and your headaches, call us 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/