Headaches can be debilitating to live with and can interfere with your ability to get daily tasks done – and certain types of headaches are worse than others. For those who have cervicogenic headaches, the pain of your headache is usually compounded with pain in your neck and sometimes shoulders, which can make it even more difficult to cope with pain throughout your day. At Metro Medic in Bedford, MA, we understand that treating your headache involves more than over-the-counter pain relievers and we’re confident we can help you resolve your discomfort to walk-in chiropractic.
A cervicogenic headache is one that typically spreads from a stiff neck all the way through the head, usually causing tension and pain along with symptoms that are similar to migraines. For most people, the go-to treatment for a headache like this is to rest and cease movement to wait for the pain to pass. But for some, this type of at-home intervention isn’t effective enough to reduce the strain of a headache.
Fortunately, patients have several other options at Metro Medic. Our treatment options include:
For a cervicogenic headache, the best treatment is Bedford chiropractic care. Chiropractic care to treat headaches caused by stiff neck or joint muscles will typically involve spinal manipulation to release the tension in the cervical joints of the neck. Spinal manipulation can be done through massage, special stretching, realignment of the spine, and other techniques that only chiropractors are trained to perform.
As a note, it’s important that you leave spinal manipulation techniques to the experts, as at-home tools can cause more harm than good. Scheduling an appointment with a chiropractor is the best way to realign your spine and decompress the tension between cervical vertebrae that is causing the pain and tension.
Using prescribed or over-the-counter non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications may be a good band-aid to use between chiropractic appointments or during a sudden onset of a headache while you are waiting to be seen by a professional for spinal manipulation. Aspirin, Ibuprofen, and some muscle relaxers may help release the tension or mask the symptoms for long enough that you can get through your day until your appointment.
Nerve blockers are typically reserved for those who have very intense pain and need assistance to get through physical therapy or Bedford chiropractic care. Nerve blockers are temporary blocks on pain receptors that will allow for your physical treatment without any significant discomfort on your part. This is ideal for patients who can’t withstand spinal manipulation due to overactive pain nerves caused by the headache.
Physical therapy is another long-term solution that typically goes hand-in-hand with Bedford chiropractic care. Ideally, a chiropractor will like to see you to diagnose and initially treat your headache to release the tension in your neck causing the pain. However, if your pain is caused by certain factors such as overuse, it may be wiser to seek additional physical therapy guidance.
Physical therapy can teach you the specific stretches and exercises that will help you safely and continually release tension in your neck and spine. Doing certain stretches and exercises each day can help prevent new headaches from occurring or can help you reduce pain while you are waiting to be seen by a professional.
For certain causes of this type of headache, such as degenerative injuries, it may be necessary to seek surgery if other non-invasive treatments are not effective for your long-term health goals. Surgery to treat CV headaches are rare, but when they do happen, the surgery is usually performed on cervical vertebrae to create more space between vertebrae so that certain nerves aren’t being squeezed or pressured in the spine.
During your consultation at Metro Medic, we will help you determine the best treatment to address your CV headache. Your treatment may involve multiple methods of pain management to create a long-term solution that will manage your headache, improve your physiology, and allow you to live your life with less pain. For example, it’s common for chiropractic care, physical therapy, and certain over-the-counter pain relievers to be used at the same time to treat all aspects of CV headaches.
A cervicogenic headache is a type of headache that results in steady, throbbing pressure on one side of the head along with a stiff neck or shoulders. This type of headache is somewhat rare among the general population, with less than 2.5% of people experiencing this type of headache annually. However, this type of headache accounts for almost 20% of clinical treatments at Bedford chiropractic practices, which means that many people seek treatment for this headache every year.
Like most headaches, there are specific symptoms that indicate the occurrence of this type of headache. Because all headaches involve pain in the skull caused by pressure or nerve signals, it’s helpful to know the specific symptoms of this type of headache so you can determine if your current symptoms align with the common symptoms of a CV headache. The common symptoms include:
For a CV headache, you may have only a few or all symptoms of the headache. The degree of symptoms you have will depend on how great the pain is affecting you. For example, those with minor headaches may only have a stiff neck and head pain, while those who have severe headaches may experience migraine-like symptoms in addition to physical pain and stiffness in the neck, shoulders, and arm.
In general, a CV headache is caused by pressure that is placed on nerves between the cervical vertebrae; when these nerves are pinched between the spine, they send pain signals to the brain, which causes the head pain. However, there are also specific causes for developing this type of headache, particularly if you have this headache regularly. The main causes of this headache include:
Your headache may be caused by overuse of the cervical vertebrae. Over time, using the same area of your body can cause strain that will lead to physical stressors that create pain, tension, and headaches.
For example, some people who develop this type of headache may work in certain jobs, such as hairstylists, truck drivers, computer science, carpenters, craftspeople, and more. Any occupation that requires you to repeatedly hold your neck down while simultaneously using the muscles in the neck and shoulders can create overuse of the cervical vertebrae, and that can create the right circumstances to develop a CV headache over time.
Injury to the cervical vertebrae may also cause this type of headache. For example, getting into a car accident or having whiplash may create an injury or an opportunity for a CV headache to develop. Injuries can also include sports injuries, falls, high-impact events, or any other incident that has the ability to compress the nerves and vertebrae in the neck.
Poor posture may also contribute to developing this type of headache. If your natural posture puts your head before your body, you may be causing stress to your cervical vertebrae and creating tension in the spine or neck. Posture is something that Bedford chiropractic care can help address through treatment.
Degenerative diseases and injuries may also create a CV headache. For example, bone and joint damage that worsens over time due to injury or aging may cause the spine to compress more easily, which makes it easier for your body to develop a cervical headache.
Getting the right diagnosis is important to determine the type of treatment method that will be most effective for your particular needs. A CV headache is typically diagnosed by a physical examination, which may require you to turn your head to indicate the stiffness in your neck.
Your examination will also involve gathering certain information about you, such as when your headache began, what makes the headache better or worse, and the previous interventions you have tried to alleviate your symptoms. Diagnosing your CV headache may also require certain tests and examinations, such as:
It may be necessary to get certain images of your neck, shoulders, and spine to see if any spine or joint misalignments or injuries are causing your headache. Xrays, MRIs, and CT scans are all commonly used to examine the bones and muscles of the neck to identify potential causes of CV headaches.
It may also be necessary to perform a nerve block test. because a nerve block is a special medication that blocks the transmission of nerve signals, administering a nerve block will help us determine if your CV headache is caused by an agitated nerve, or if the cause of your headache is from something else.
Mild cases may resolve themselves over time, but for those who have degenerative injuries or those who have chronic CV headaches, the fact of the matter is that this type of headache will not be able to go away by itself. Patients who have frequent headaches will likely need professional intervention to resolve the headaches for the long-term.
Typically, a CV headache has a sudden onset that can last for one hour to as much as one week at a time. The length of time your headache lasts will generally be determined by how tight or stiff your neck feels in addition to the degree of the head pain.
Good candidates for the treatment of a cervicogenic headache include those who have had at least one or more CV headache in the last year to six months. We will determine whether any of our treatment options are right for you during your consultation appointment. Good candidates include those who are willing to use Bedford chiropractic care and physical therapy to resolve their symptoms.
Headaches that last for several hours or several days have a way of stealing our time – but you can take your time back and resolve your CV headache for the long-term when you use the right treatment technique in the chiropractic clinic new Bedford MA. To schedule your consultation, contact Metro Medic in Bedford, MA today.
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