Is Your Headache Coming From Your Neck?

June is Headache Awareness Month:

1 in 20 people have a headache EVERY DAY, and 75% of us have had one in the last year. It’s actually the most common medical ailment.

There are over 150 different types of headaches, and they fall into two categories:

Primary headaches don’t stem from any other condition.

• Tension: dull pain on either side of head and across forehead
• Migraines: throbbing, sensitive to light/ sound, nausea, with vision affected
• Cluster: behind one eye, intense, burning or stabbing

Secondary headaches are there because something else is going on (like when you get a headache with a sinus infection).

The example we are going to focus on are when headaches come from your neck, called ‘cervicogenic’ headaches (the 7 bones that make up your neck are ‘cervical vertebrae’). These tend to start around the base of your skull and travel up one side of your head.

Cervicogenic headaches are more likely to happen when the stackable bones of your neck get stuck. Neck bones are like puzzle pieces that fit together, only there should be slight movement between them (like if you push on a trampoline). When bones are stuck, nerves are always pulled tight like a stretched rubber band. Muscles follow along, and now you have a headache. Tests that show your headache could be related to your neck:

1. Backing up your car: notice if have to turn whole body, or if one way is easier than the other
2. Do gentle neck circles: your neck should not sound like a breakfast cereal (that popping and cracking is called ‘crepitus’, from wear and tear of your spine)
3. When you push on tight spots in your neck it makes the pain shoot (trigger points)
4. Have a friend take a picture of you from the side, and see if the center of your ear is in front of your shoulder (they should stack exactly on top of each other). If your ear is forward, this puts much more strain on the bones, nerves, and muscles of your neck.
5. Let one ear drop to that same shoulder: it should get most of the way there. If it stops right away, is painful or you have to lift the opposite shoulder to get your ear down, this is also a sign.

Here are a few easy things you can try that soften chronic neck tension and may improve your cervicogenic headaches:

• Better work posture: set up your work station so you’re looking straight ahead at your monitor and not hunched over and looking down
• Movement: circles, stretches, getting up and changing position – it all helps
• Deep breathing: this helps dial back stress overall, which helps nerves relax
• Take a break during your day and lay on your back with a rolled towel under your neck
• Make sure your pillow height keeps your spine in good alignment while you sleep

If you need more help:

Chiropractic is like going into your iPhone and adjusting the settings. By changing the nerve tightness settings, the small muscles that wrap around the spine can relax, and movement between the bones in your neck is restored. Changing these nerve settings is like a stretch you can’t get to yourself, and often helps with headaches.

Hopefully this has shed a little light on cervicogenic headaches. If this sounds like you, good luck with these steps and reply with any questions – I’m here to help.

Stay healthy,
Dr. Laura