Cervicogenic Headaches

Cervicogenic headaches can be debilitating and for some people can be a daily condition to deal with. With pain killers just masking the problem did you know there is treatment that can help either reduce or stop your headaches all together?

Cervicogenic headaches come from the structures around the back of the neck. These can either be caused by tightness of muscles pulling on their attachments causing the headache or coming from inflammation or compression of the facet joints in the neck or discs referring up into the head. These usually cause one (but can be both) sided headaches that wrap up over your head and can quite often stop over the eye, sometimes even radiating down and into your shoulder.

Pain can start as an intermittent tightness that over time just becomes more of a daily issue. This is a common issue in those who do a lot of desk work, driving or spend hours on their mobile phones.

Treatment for this will obviously depend on where testing has shown the problem is coming from. But usual treatments are facet joint release, which focuses directly on those joints in the neck to ease them. Massage release of the surrounding tissue, from up into the occipital region of your skull to down into the shoulders and even thoracic (upper back region). Then dependant on the individual dry needling or laser can also be used to help ease muscles and help those with possible degeneration of the cervical spine. Stretches are then given to help with keep even relaxed between treatments and help the treatment outcomes last longer.

Sound like you or somebody you know?

Then these are things that Sarah the chiropractor and Craig the Sports massage therapist can help you with today.