What Are Cervical Headaches?

They can present with stiffness or tightness in the head and neck, pain that radiates from the neck into the head triggering a headache. These headaches may last a few hours or a few days. They may occur on one side or both sides of the head and prevent you from wanting to turn your head or bend your neck from side to side. 

Three Tips For Cervical Headaches:

  1. Chiropractic adjustment
    • Adjustments are great for short-term relief immediate relief by decreasing the tension within the cervical spine or the neck.
    • Creates more movement within the joints of the neck to help take tension of the muscles that are being overworked. 
  2. Soft tissue Work 
    • Deep neck flexors become weak, which create the suboccipitals to have to work harder to hold your head up straight.
    • The suboccipitals becoming tight can create occipital nerve root irritation. 
    • We give you exercises and stretches to help strengthen the weak muscles and stretch out the over shortened muscles. 
    • We also might incorporate occipital nerve flossing is the occipital nerve is creating more of a problem. 
  3. Lifestyle
    • We love to provide short-term relief, but our goal is to prevent this headache from coming back. 
    • We really work one-on-one with our patients to figure out what in their life can be contributing to their headaches. 
    • We look at posture, hobbies/exercises you are doing, how you naturally carry your head and much more. 

These are just three tips and insights for managing cervical headaches. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out. Thank you for allowing me to be part of your health.

Dr. Madeline Klesk

Dr. Madeline Klesk

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