Have you ever heard of cervicogenic headache, also known as a neck headache or neck migraine? If you frequently struggle with migraine attacks, chances are, you might have come across neck headaches while reading about remedies like upper cervical care.
According to reports, about 24 percent of headaches are cervicogenic. It can result from health problems like osteoarthritis or sometimes a neck misalignment.
If you suspect having a cervicogenic headache or if you’re curious about how it transpires, our discussion below can help you. First, let’s take a deep dive into how a neck headache feels and what you can do about it.
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Unknown to many, the neck performs a vital function–protecting the brainstem, the nervous system’s information highway. Unfortunately, when you suffer from a neck trauma or maintain poor standing or lifting posture, the upper cervical neck bones can potentially shift by a few millimeters.
Neck headaches can also potentially develop due to long hours spent sitting down. Many individuals who work from home can relate to this frustrating and sometimes worrying condition.
Other factors such as pre-existing health problems are contributors to cervical subluxation. A few examples of these include:
Often, a cervical subluxation triggers a plethora of problems, including sending of incorrect signals to the brain. Moreover, the compression or irritation of your brainstem can affect certain functions that could lead to the onset of a neck migraine and other equally frustrating health issues.
A cervicogenic headache often feels like a typical migraine attack. However, besides causing pulsating head pain, it triggers additional symptoms like facial pain, neck muscle spasms, head pain while sneezing or coughing, and pain when you roll your eyes.
Some patients who have a neck migraine also note additional symptoms like:
If you have any of these symptoms and don’t have an official diagnosis yet, we suggest setting an appointment with a healthcare provider. Essentially, your doctor, neurologist, or upper cervical care practitioner may tell if you have a cervicogenic headache by pressing on specific parts of your neck or the base of your head.
Sometimes, doctors ask their patients to tilt their heads at specific angles to determine if this can trigger an attack. The sooner you get diagnosed with a neck headache or migraine, the better and faster you can cope.
A sudden headache in the middle of a busy day can cause quite a distraction. It could ruin your routine and ruin your mood. Your situation can also get worse if your neck migraines happen often.
Thankfully, there are several available remedies used to manage neck pain and headache. Besides upper cervical care, here are other effective and practical options that you can try:
You might also find it helpful to keep track of your neck migraines and check for the usual triggers such as bright lights, stress, alcohol, and sodium-rich food products.
Countless patients turn to upper cervical care to manage their neck migraine symptoms. After all, upper cervical chiropractic aims to resolve the most likely cause of your terrifying situation – misaligned neck bones. Guided by the findings from the initial physical examination and digital imaging tests, your upper cervical doctor slowly adjusts the affected bones.
It’s a precise and gentle process that aims to provide C1 and C2 adjustments that can hold for years. Then, with your neck bones gradually shifting back to their original alignment, you can successfully reduce the pressure on the nerves and brainstem. This also allows you to fix signal transmission problems that may be contributing to your pain.
Find an upper cervical chiropractic practitioner near you and schedule a consultation. This way, you can assess the degree of misalignment of your neck bones and start receiving adjustments to correct the problem.
TV show host Montel Williams describes how specific chiropractic care has helped his body.
The content and materials provided in this web site are for informational and educational purposes only and are not intended to supplement or comprise a medical diagnosis or other professional opinion, or to be used in lieu of a consultation with a physician or competent health care professional for medical diagnosis and/or treatment. All content and materials including research papers, case studies and testimonials summarizing patients' responses to care are intended for educational purposes only and do not imply a guarantee of benefit. Individual results may vary, depending upon several factors including age of the patient, severity of the condition, severity of the spinal injury, and duration of time the condition has been present.