CAN NECK PAIN CAUSE HEADACHES?

Are you experiencing a headache that seemingly radiates from your neck? If so, you might be experiencing a cervicogenic headache (CGH). Headaches can occur for a variety of reasons, such as stress, trauma, or fatigue. Some of these headaches can be caused from structures outside of the head, with some originating from dysfunctions of muscles, bones and nerves within the cervical spine (neck).

Headaches occurring from these structures in the neck are known as CGH. It affects 4% of the general population and 15-20% of all headaches are cervicogenic.

HOW DO I KNOW IF MY HEADACHE IS CERVICOGENIC?

The International Classification of Headache Disorders (ICHD) is a comprehensive classification system developed by the International Headache Society (HIS) to diagnose and differentiate headaches. The ICHD provides detailed criteria for the diagnosis of various headaches, including common primary and secondary headaches such as migraines, tension-type, cluster, and CGH.

Here are some considerations in diagnosing a cervicogenic headache according to ICHD:

•       There is a problem in the neck, from bones, joints or muscles that are known to cause a headache.
•       2 of the following 4 need to show that the neck is the cause of your headache:

• The headache started when the neck problem began.

• The headache gets better or goes away when the neck problem gets better.

• Moving the neck is hard, and it makes the headache worse.

• The headache goes away when a practitioner alleviates neck pain through medicine or blocking its nerve supply.

WHAT DOES A CERVICOGENIC HEADACHE FEEL LIKE?

CGH can start as intermittent pain and potentially progress to become continuous, accompanied by neck pain. Common features of CGH include pain originating at the back of the head, which can radiate towards the front along the forehead, eye, temple or ear. Pain is usually on one side but can be both, and becomes worse with sudden neck movements or certain head positions.

HOW TO GET RID OF CERVICOGENIC HEADACHE

Chiropractors are great in treating CGH through various techniques and soft tissue therapies of the neck. Since neck pain is the cause of the headache, us here at Fortitude Chiropractic can help to identify dysfunctions within the neck through a thorough assessment, and provide targeting treatment and exercise therapy to ensure short and long-term relief.

If you’re struggling with neck pain and headaches, book online here or call us at (08) 6184 8835 and start feeling relief today!

HERE ARE SOME OF OUR OTHER BLOGS: