South Buffalo Chiropractic and Cervicogenic Headache
We see a lot of folks with headaches in our South Buffalo office, and Dr. Nowak has been able to help many of them. Indeed, the World Health Organization (WHO) reports that one half of all adults have a problem with some sort of headache condition, so this certainly isn’t surprising. One of the most frequent varieties of headaches that our patients are afflicted by is cervicogenic headache which, luckily, chiropractic can commonly help.
What is a Cervicogenic Headache?
A cervicogenic headache is one that starts from an issue in the cervical spine. It could be due to a condition with either the spine itself (primarily, the vertebrae, joints, or discs), or it might be caused by a problem in the muscles and tendons of your neck. This problem in your spine creates compression or aggravation of the spinal nerves, which can give you headache pain.
How do you distinguish if the headache you are enduring is a cervicogenic headache? Apart from getting a diagnosis from a healthcare expert, a typical symptom of cervicogenic headaches is tenderness or pain in your neck. This is occasionally combined with pain in the back of your head or between your shoulder blades.
Headache Relief with Chiropractic
Seeing that cervicogenic headaches will not go away until whatever problem is inducing them is remedied, it is critical to receive treatment rather than just trying to "wait it out." Chiropractic care is an excellent approach, and one that offers a great deal of headache pain relief.
In one study released in Chiropractic & Osteopathy, researchers followed 80 people who had frequent cervicogenic headaches. Half of them got chiropractic care and the other 50% underwent light massage therapy. Each participant was examined 12 and 24 weeks after the procedures and it was discovered that chiropractic provided the best outcomes.
In particular, this study revealed that chiropractic adjustments gave patients greater pain relief and decreased the number of headaches that occurred. On top of that, it also mitigated the disability that resulted from these painful headaches.
To find out what Dr. Nowak can do for you and your headache pain, call our office today. We'll do our best to get you the pain relief you deserve!
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/