Harleysville Chiropractic and Cervicogenic Headache

We see a large number of men and women with headaches in our Harleysville office, and Dr. Szilagyi has been able to support many of them. Indeed, the World Health Organization (WHO) reports that 50 percent of all adults have difficulties with some type of headache problem, so this really isn’t surprising. One of the most typical varieties of headaches that our patients are afflicted with is cervicogenic headache which, happily, chiropractic can usually help.

Cervicogenic Headaches Defined

A cervicogenic headache is one that arises from an issue in the cervical spine. It could be generated by a condition with either the spine itself (in particular, the vertebrae, joints, or discs), or it could be caused by a problem in the muscles and tendons of your neck. This dysfunction in your spine contributes to compaction or aggravation of the spinal nerves, which can result in headache pain.

How do you tell if the headache you are enduring is a cervicogenic headache? Aside from getting a diagnosis from a healthcare expert, a common symptom of cervicogenic headaches is tenderness or pain in your neck. This is sometimes coupled with pain in the back of your head or between your shoulder blades.

How Chiropractic Helps

Seeing that cervicogenic headaches will not subside until whatever issue is generating them is corrected, it is vital to receive treatment as opposed to just trying to "wait it out." Chiropractic care is an effective solution, and one that offers a great deal of headache pain relief.

In one study printed in Chiropractic & Osteopathy, researchers studied 80 people who had regular cervicogenic headaches. One-half 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 provided the most beneficial results.

In particular, this study revealed that chiropractic adjustments provided patients better pain relief and lowered the number of headaches that occurred. In addition, it also minimized the disability that resulted from these painful headaches.

To find out what Dr. Szilagyi can do for you and your headaches, 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/