Gretchen Zachel

A headache is your body’s way of telling you that something is not right. A headache can range from mild to severe and can occur due to various reasons. A headache that occurs due to issues in the neck is termed as a Cervicogenic headache. This type of headache typically occurs due to some disorder in the cervical spine and its components like a disc, spinal cords or soft tissue elements.

What is a Cervicogenic Headache?

Scarborough Chiropractor, Dr. Adam Rocchi explains that people having cervicogenic headache often have neck stiffness or their headache worsens with certain neck movements. These headaches are often one sided i.e. the pain may radiate from neck or back of the head up to the front or to the back of the eye. Patients who suffer from such type of headache should be carefully examined by their doctor so as to eliminate other causes such as a migraine ortension/stress related pain.

Dr. Adam Rocchi, a Scarborough Chiropractor says that even though a migraine and a cervicogenic headache are different, but they can have similar symptoms. For example, nausea, painful arms or shoulder, blurry vision, feeling sick in bright light etc. are some of the symptoms. Hence, it is crucial that the patient consults an expert for proper diagnosis and treatment.

Diagnosis and Treatment Strategies for a Cervicogenic headache

Patients suffering from a cervicogenic headache will often have restricted cervical range of motion and the head pain can be triggered by active neck movement or positioning. Diagnostic tools such as radiography, MRI or CT scan cannot confirm the existence of cervicogenic headache. A medical expert has to study the detailed history of the patient followed by physical examination and neurological assessment to identify the potential or underlying causes.

X-rays or CT scans can typically identify the secondary causes of the pain, but Scarborough Chiropractor, Dr. Rocchi recommends that one should go for a cervical spine x-ray in case you have been suffering from headaches for a long time.

As a practice, the treatment can only begin after an appropriate diagnosis has been done. There are several ways to reduce pain in case of a cervicogenic headache-

1. Medication – Your doctor may advise certain anti-inflammatory or non-steroidal medicines for relieving pain and muscle relaxation.
2. Physical therapy – The patient can also go in for physiotherapy which includes techniques for loosening the stiff neck joints and strengthening exercises to stabilize and control the available joint movement.
3. Chiropractic treatment– This is the most effective treatment to relieve the pain. Dr. Adam Rocchi, a renowned Scarborough Chiropractor explains that the Trigenics neurological treatment combined with usage of advanced tools such as spine scan can effectively reduce the neck pain. Spine scan is a hand-held computerized instrument that applies appropriate pressure on the affected part of the spine, improves flexibility and can treat the problem accurately and gently.
4. Non-Surgical option- Other options for treating such pains can include relaxation techniques such as yoga, deep breathing, acupuncture etc.

Conclusion

A cervicogenic headache is a chronic headache that often goes unrecognized or is not diagnosed properly since its symptoms are more or less similar to common headaches. Therefore, an early diagnosis by visiting Scarborough Chiropractor Dr. Adam is essential since it has been observed that most of the headaches whether neurological or biochemical respond well to chiropractic treatment.

So, if you are suffering from prolonged headache even after medication and physical therapy, then you should consider visiting a chiropractor today. Just call the practice now on (08) 61508785 Scarborough or (08) 61508783 Mount Pleasant to arrange an appointment.