We see a large number of folks with headaches in our Waldorf, MD office, and Waldorf Total Health Chiropractic & Physical Therapy has been able to provide relief for many of them. Indeed, the World Health Organization (WHO) reports that half of all adults have difficulty with some kind of headache condition, so this certainly isn’t surprising. One of the most typical types of headaches that our patients have problems with is cervicogenic headache which, luckily, chiropractic can often help.

What is a Cervicogenic Headache?

A cervicogenic headache is one that starts from issues in the cervical spine. It can easily be due to a problem with either the spine itself (particularly, 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 produces compaction or irritation of the spinal nerves, which can generate headache pain.

How do you tell if the headache you are enduring is a cervicogenic headache? Other than receiving a diagnosis from a healthcare expert, a typical symptom of cervicogenic headaches is tenderness or discomfort in your neck. This is occasionally coupled with pain in the back of your head or between your shoulder blades.

Headache Relief with Chiropractic

Since cervicogenic headaches will not subside until whatever problem is initiating them is remedied, it is vital to receive treatment rather than just trying to "wait it out." Chiropractic care is an effective approach, and one that offers a great deal of headache pain relief.

In one study reported in Chiropractic & Osteopathy, researchers studied 80 people who had repeated cervicogenic headaches. One-half got chiropractic care and the other half underwent light massage therapy. Each participant was examined 12 and 24 weeks after the treatment and it was discovered that chiropractic delivered the best results.

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

To find out what Waldorf Total Health Chiropractic & Physical Therapy 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/
Post on