Cervicogenic headache and upper cervical chiropractic care

Editor’s note: This guest post comes from Dr. Adam Tanase, Upper Cervical Doctor in St. Louis, and official chiropractic expert for MedHelp.org.

Migraine headaches: the hidden problem

While science is yet to fully understand the exact cause of migraine headaches, current findings demonstrate vascular and neurological mechanisms. Evidence suggests that during a migraine, dilated blood vessels are sending nerve signals to the brainstem and sensory cortex causing central sensitization. This forces patients to feel pain from sensations that are normally not painful (like pulsating blood vessels), as well as pain that’s resistant to peripherally-focused medical treatments.

The image above shows the base of the skull where the brainstem passes through the foramen magnum. The root/vine-like tubes seen here are blood vessels. This picture demonstrates important blood vessels of the head and their proximity to the upper cervical region. It also depicts the intimate relationship between the the first cervical bone (atlas, C1) and the brainstem.

For almost a decade I’ve been speaking with headache/migraine sufferers about chiropractic care, and more specifically, the Upper Cervical adjusting procedure. Through these conversations, I’ve realized that a lot of people have attempted some form of full-spine chiropractic manipulation (with mixed results), but very few knew about Upper Cervical Care, and were never told there was a difference.

Upper Cervical doctors have a distinct biomechanical and physiological perspective that other health care providers do not offer their patients. Our unique analysis of the relationship between the head and neck is what enables so many migraine sufferers to get lasting relief.

So if you suffer from chronic migraine headaches, Upper Cervical Care is certainly worth consideration.

If you’d like help finding a specialist in your area, email me and I’ll be happy to point you in the right direction.

To read more from Dr. Adam Tanase, please visit him at his insightful blog DrTanase.Com.

A woman came for NUCCA care after hearing that Upper Cervical Chiropractic is effective as a headache treatment. While I told her that people with headaches often respond wonderfully to NUCCA care, Upper Cervical Care is not a treatment for headache.

It’s a treatment for a head to neck imbalance that may be limiting the body’s ability to heal its own headaches. I can correct her imbalance. But I’m not going to cure her headaches.

Only the body cures.

After suffering with headaches for years, often on strong, multiple doses of over the counter pain killers, she was ready to see what her body could do under NUCCA care. And so was I.

So, can you see a headache on an x-ray?

Above are her x-rays. Notice how her head is leaning quite a bit to her right in the x-ray on the left. I had her stand in front of a mirror so she could see it as well. And she did. Not surprisingly this head tilt showed up in her x-ray. And I could see that her head and her neck were creating a kink on her right side. This was placing pressure on muscles and ligaments for sure. But also potentially placing pressure on blood vessels and nerves going into her head.

I made a gentle correction based on what I measured from the x-ray. Then I measured again after the adjustment. That’s the x-ray on the right. Can you see the improvement. Her head is only leaning half as much.

But, I wasn’t happy yet. With this new information, I lowered my approach and we made another correction. You didn’t need an x-ray to see that change. She noticed that when she looked in the mirror, her head was on straight. She couldn’t believe that she had lived with head tilt all her life.

And the best part: her headaches went away after the first visit. Even the bad ones she would have with her cycle. And months later, they’ve stayed away.

Every year neck pain affects thousands for the first time. And for many it will become chronic. Always in the background, always making its presence known.

Here’s why your physician may not understand what’s going on:

1. You don’t have a disease.

Your x-rays don’t show much; damage that’s ‘normal’ for your age. Your physician is trained to recognize disease, and all your tests have come back negative. So you can’t really blame your doctor if your neck pain isn’t caused by a serious illness.

After all, everything else about you seems healthy.

2. Your muscles ache. But they aren’t causing the problem.

Neck pain often starts with a fall or accident. Muscles are strained and ligaments are stretched. But after awhile the bad pain leaves behind a dull ache.

The muscles hurt but stretching and exercise only offer temporary relief.

The problem is actually deeper than the muscles, but only a few are trained to look beneath the surface.

3. No one (but you) is thinking about the weight of your head.

When you suffer from chronic neck pain, the head just seems so heavy. It takes so much to keep it up, and do the things life asks of you. Sometimes you just have to lie down to get relief.

You feel like you have the weight of the world, not just on your shoulders, but on top of your neck. It’s a balancing act that demands a lot of your body.

But it’s a demand your physician hasn’t been trained to recognize.

So, what’s the solution?

Find a doctor that looks at more than just muscles, more than just disease, and recognizes the weight of the head for what it is: a system that requires precision.

Across the United States, thousands of chronic neck pain suffers have found relief with a little-known procedure known as upper cervical care (NUCCA).

It’s a procedure that rebalances the head with neck using gentle precision, helping the neck to finally get the relief it wants. There’s no twisting, cracking, or popping of the neck done by chiropractors, osteopaths, or other therapists.

It’s a procedure that does more than just work the muscles. It examines the key alignment of bones at the head and neck.

Alignment that’s critical for proper muscle and ligament balance in the neck and shoulders. Alignment that’s critical for the body’s own ability to heal chronic neck pain.

These are the 3 lies people believe about headaches.

1. Persistent, recurring headaches are normal. They’re not. Persistent, reoccurring headaches are a sign that something’s not right in the body.

2. Headaches run in the family, so I’m stuck with them. There are lots of different kinds of headaches, some mild, and some severe. There are many factors that go into headaches as well. But just because your mother and her sisters all get the same kind of headaches, doesn’t mean you’re destined to live with the same pain.

3. I can only control my headaches with drugs. Believe it or not, there are other answers for your headaches outside of drugs. And upper cervical care (NUCCA) is one of them.

Many headache suffers have found that an imbalance between their head and their neck was the root cause of their pain. Once that imbalance is corrected, the body is able to recover, and pain is reduced, if not eliminated. All thanks to a new alignment, and the body’s ability to heal itself.

Is an upper cervical imbalance causing your headaches? The only way to know is to get an evaluation by a trained upper cervical doctor.

This article copyright 2009, drzward.com