Mary Franz - Mar 18th, 2011
Headaches and neck disorders often occur together, but are they directly related? In a recent study, researchers examined whether there was an association between headache symptoms and cervical spine impairment in cases of probable cervicogenic headache.
The study was observational, and 92 subjects in total were evaluated. Cervical spine impairment was identified with the use of the flexion-rotation test. Among the participants, 72 of them had probable cervicogenic headache and 20 had no symptoms (all of which was evaluated by questionnaire). Researchers also measured each participant's range of motion.
After data analysis, the researchers determined that half of the variation in range of motion was explained by headache severity. Researchers concluded that this indicates a relationship between presence and severity of cervicogenic headache and cervical movement impairment.
A chiropractor can assess whether your headaches are related to neck problems, and determine a treatment plan to help minimize the symptoms from both headaches and neck pain.
Hall TM, Briffa K, Hopper D, Robinson KW. The relationship between cervicogenic headache and impairment determined by the flexion-rotation test. Journal of Manipulative Physiological Therapy. 2010 Nov-Dec; 33(9):666-71.
[rss]