As chiropractors when we are evaluating cases such as cervicogenic headaches, we’ll go through a detailed analysis. Cervicogenic headaches are driven from spinal misalignment. That’s why they’re called cervicogenic headaches. So, in chiropractic, we figure out exactly what’s going on and then create a treatment plan that is non-invasive and non-drug based.
Cervicogenic headaches are essentially headaches that are driven from the cervical spine, your neck. Incrementally, over time, a lot of our patients suffer with what we call anterior head carriage. That’s where your head starts to shift forwards. And with that, we can have a straightening of the lordosis, so your neck curve starts to go straight. So, in turn, as your head and neck shift forward, we have tiny muscles that anchor the occiput, that’s the base of your skull right in the back of your head, into the top two vertebrae in your neck, C to cervical 1, 2. That’s your atlas and axis. Those suboccipital muscles anchor the skull to those two vertebrae and their primary function is to rotate your head.
However, if your head and neck shift forwards and the neck starts to go straight, these muscles now are under tension and the muscle tissue starts to break down. When it breaks down, it gets repaired internally. The body heals and it lays down something called adhesion. Adhesion is like glue in the muscle. So now you’ve got unhealthy muscle tissue that’s stabilizing the skull and the top two bones in your neck. Well, those nerves that come out of the brain, into the brain stem, into the spine loop back into your head. They innervate eyes, ears, nose, throat. So, when those nerves are subluxated, aka they’re under stress, brain nerves can’t communicate, they are like stuck in a traffic jam. There’s no flow of information, so it manifests as a symptom. Symptoms at C1-C2 level can create headaches. Cervicogenic headaches are driven from the muscles and the joints shifting out of alignment, we call this subluxation, in the base of your skull, which refers pain into the head, causing headaches.
In our clinic, we follow a detailed plan, outlined below, to determine the root cause of the cervicogenic headache pain and implement a treatment plan unique to every patient.
Detailed Patient History and Consultation:
In our practice, we’re doing a detailed history and consultation. Okay, when did the headaches start? Have you had them previously? Was there any trauma involved? What does your occupation require you to do?
What have you done to try and correct them? What makes them feel better? What makes them feel worse? What aggravates the symptoms? How is this limiting you in regard to feeling and function?
Do you have that corporate posture? Is your head shifted forward? Has it driven your neck forward? Has your neck gone straight?
We explain to the patients that what drives those posture changes is corporate America’s sedentary activity. So, if you are sitting all the time due to you having to work, all those posture muscles get weak and lazy. Our bodies are economical, so if you don’t need to use something then our body is just not going to use it. Then the flexors in the front of your neck get weak and lazy, so your head starts to jut forward. Then the muscles between the shoulders get weak and lazy. Then our shoulders are rounding, which is going to drive those postural changes which drive the cervicogenic headaches.
Initial Patient Exam:
An initial patient exam includes a palpatory exam at the spine, evaluating the joints for their range of motion and the tone of the muscle tissue and physically taking them through a range of motion exam. We go through an orthopedic exam, to find all the muscles and tendons that have been damaged and are weak and lazy that are driving a lot of dysfunction in regard to limiting range of motion, creating weakness and instability. We will do a neurological exam to determine if this is a neurological issue or a musculoskeletal issue.
We then take some digital x-rays. Digital x-rays can allow us to evaluate your spine objectively. To see is to know. So, when you evaluate the spine anatomically and you’re looking at an x-ray, you have seven bones in your neck, the top one should meet the bottom one, so you have a 42-degree curve. So, if you’re looking at posture our ears should be on top of our shoulders.
Treatment Plan:
We then take those clinical findings and if we feel it’s something that we can help you with in regard to our approach to musculoskeletal pain, then we’ll go through our treatment recommendations. Whenever you evaluate the spine treatment recommendation, you always have to factor in what are the clinical findings and what are the goals of the patients, and then create a roadmap to get the patient from being in pain, suffering with the headaches, to where they need to be, whatever the goals are, sitting, focusing at work, working in order so they can get the promotion and then go through the treatment plan.
Physical Therapy:
In our practice we’re going through physical therapy to improve joint mobility and adjust the muscle imbalances that occur from just being sedentary. Then a stabilizing strength program to engage those postural muscles. So, if your spine moves well, it’s in alignment and you’ve got balanced muscle strength, then you’re not going to deal with headaches, objectively. And by going through a conservative approach, you’re not going to have to take medication and always rely on medication to just treat the symptom, instead of addressing the root cause.
Chiropractic Care:
The treatment plan is predominantly going to involve spinal adjustments to improve joint range of motion mechanics, taking stress off nerves which can get rid of your symptoms. We implement spinal traction, if we have spinal misalignment, fostering technical chiropractic biophysics, the most researched form of chiropractic or based on evidence-based research, to get the spine in alignment. And then we utilize soft tissue therapy to break down muscle adhesion that’s sitting in the joints or the muscles that control joint moves such as the suboccipitals.
When you blend this approach together, repetitively build that momentum, we can take care of cervicogenic headaches without drugs or surgery.
