Headaches
If you’re looking for an East Grinstead Osteopath, you’ve come to the right place. Cliff Russell of Osteo Studio, East Grinstead is experienced in treating headaches that are caused by problems with the neck - so called cervicogenic headaches. One study estimated that up to 20% of people who suffered from chronic headaches were experiencing them due to their necks, with women being much more likely to suffer with them than men. Typically they are one-sided headaches and are accompanied by neck pain and/or stiffness and can get mistaken for other types of headache, for instance tension-type headaches or even migraines.
Cervicogenic Headaches
Although the concept had been around for a long time, it wasn’t until the 1980s that researchers began to formally suggest that certain types of headache were actually being caused by problems in the neck, rather than the skull or brain.
They went on to validate this theory by doing experiments where they blocked (numbed) specific nerves at the top of the neck and then noticed that the headaches were relieved.
These headaches were given the term ‘cervicogenic’, and are now known to produce pain at the back of the head, around the temples, behind or around the eyes or even on the top of the head.
The mechanisms for cervicogenic headaches include;
1. Pinching of the occipital nerves at the top of the neck.
2. Tight muscles in the neck or shoulders which can lead to ‘trigger points’ which refer pain to the head.
3. Nerves at the top of the neck pass into the brain where they can sensitise other pain-sensitive structures like the nucleus of the trigeminal nerve, the meninges or cranial blood vessels. Overall, this means that if there is a problem with the upper neck joints, nerves or muscles then sometimes the brain may experience the problem in the form of headaches instead of or as well as pain in the neck itself.
Could osteopathy help with your headaches?
Through sense of touch (palpation) osteopaths are able to assess how the different joints and muscles of the neck are functioning and identify any problem areas. Areas of stiffness or dysfunction can then be treated by gentle movement and stretching. In some cases, normal movement and function can be restored with specific spinal adjustments.