Do you have headaches which seem to start in the back of the neck and radiate around to the side of temporal area or behind you eye? Generally, are your headaches on one side? Does your neck feel tight and stiff or hard to turn? You maybe suffering from Cervicogenic headaches or headaches originating from your neck area.
Cervicogenic headaches make up about 15-25% of all headaches and with todays technology, (looking down at our phones, working in front of a computer all day) these types of headaches are becoming much more common. At the base of our skull and the top of the neck area we have muscles, tendons, ligaments, and nerves which can become tight and irritated causing these headaches. You may also have trigger points lower at the top of the shoulders around the trapezius muscle area. Patients will generally notice a loss in the neck range of motion and tenderness at the top of neck and base of the skull.
Spinal manipulation has been shown to be very successful with this condition. Also, soft tissue manipulation along with strengthening of neck muscles has been shown to be very helpful. If you can limit computer or phone time or use better posture while using these devices…well that would help too. If you think you might be suffering from cervicogenic headaches make an appointment with us by calling 512 556-8223. Our treatment plans are generally short, and we give a lot of home recommendations for you to do.
Check out our video on some stretches and exercises that you can do for these types of headaches.
Dr. Craig Benton
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