Headache

Cervicogenic Headache Revisited

The Chiro.Org Blog

SOURCE:   The Chiropractic Report

Editor: David Chapman-Smith LL.B. (Hons.)

“In my experience, cervical migraine is the type of headache most frequently seen in general practice and also the type most frequently misinterpreted. It is usually erroneously diagnosed as classical migraine, tension headache, vascular headache. . . . Such patients have usually received an inadequate treatment and have often become neurotic and drug-dependent”.

Frykholm, neurosurgeon, Sweden (1972) [1]

“Manipulation is effective in patients with cervicogenic headache”.

Duke University Evidence-Based Practice Center, USA (2001) [2]

A. Introduction

Headache is one of the most frequent reasons people seek medical advice and is the primary complaint of about 10% of chiropractic patients [3,4]. Headaches may have a ‘sinister’ cause, such as accidental injury, a space-occupying lesion in the brain or other disease process. In that case they are secondary headaches. However the great majority of headaches are ‘benign’, not linked to any specific injury or disease, and are known as primary headaches.

Benign does not mean mild – symptoms may be frequent and severe. The three most common types of primary headaches are migraine, tension-type headache (TT H) and cervicogenic headache (CGH) [5]. Back in the 1960s the various categories of primary headache were thought to be distinct. That thinking still influences much clinical practice and public perception. However by 1988, when the International Headache Society (IHS) published a new classification of headaches [6] it was known: (more…)

Chiropractic Management of Migraine Headache

The Chiro.Org Blog

SOURCE: ChiroACCESS

Just as puzzles are completed piece by piece, the evidence for the positive effects of chiropractic care for migraines is slowly filling in and revealing a clearer picture. That picture depicts a more meaningful role for chiropractic care in both the prevention and treatment of migraine headache. A recent Norwegian systematic review of manual therapies for migraine prevention (4 Feb 2011) concluded that chiropractic spinal manipulation and some other conservative interventions appear to be equal to medications (propranolol & topiramate) in their ability to prevent migraines. (more…)

Study of Spinal Manipulative Therapy for Neck-Related Headaches

The Chiro.Org Blog

SOURCE:   National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Previous research suggests that spinal manipulative therapy (SMT) may be helpful for various types of chronic headaches, including cervicogenic headache (CGH), which is associated with neck pain and dysfunction. In a recent randomized controlled trial, NCCAM-funded researchers from Western States Chiropractic College and other institutions evaluated the dose (number of treatments) and relative efficacy of SMT in a group of 80 patients with chronic CGH. (more…)