The Causes and Treatment of a Cervicogenic Headache

There are a few types of headaches which most everyone knows about. Among these best known types are, of course, the ever popular tension headaches, which is caused by a high level of stress on a person, whether it be physical stress, emotional stress, or mental stress. Then there are migraine headaches, which are thought to be caused by an abnormal amount of expansion in the blood vessels which carry your all-important blood from your heart and lungs to your brain. There are, however, some types of headaches which do not get the amount of credit which they deserve, so to speak. Prime candidate for this category is the cervicogenic headache. This devious little ailment is the cause of many more aches and pains than most people think, but a cervicogenic headache is crafty enough to disguise itself for another type entirely.

A cervicogenic headache is, by its definition, any headache which is caused by the neck. The term 'cervicogenic' simply refers the cervical area, which is a part of your spine located right near the base of the skull. As such, there can be some ambiguity as to what does and does not actually fit into this category. It would be a safe bet, however, to put just about anything that involves the neck into this category. However, this type of headache can be a bit tricky to define as it has a rather troublesome tendency to tread on the territory of other types of headaches.

For instance, one of the most prominent causes of a cervicogenic headache is simply undergoing an excessive amount of stress to your neck and spine. This can be caused a number of different ways, such as holding your head in an odd position for too long, or perhaps by sleeping in an abnormal position which might strain the spine. There might also be a long term buildup of stress which can cause a series of headaches in the end. Whatever the case, these causes often seem like they would fit just as naturally into the tension headache category, which may very well be the case. Other possible causes include a significant injury in the area, such as a severe whiplash, or even a case of arthritis in the area.

So, what makes a cervicogenic headache so devious? In essence, the pain often shows up in other locations, such as the forehead, where you would never expect the neck to be involved at all. In many cases, a cervicogenic headache will be mistaken for a migraine, and treated as such. In fact, the proper treatment for this kind of headache is entirely different.

While a migraine is normally treated with pain medication and a few simple techniques, treating one of these headaches will definitely require consulting a doctor, as the cause may be one of any number of different problems, and often are several problems at once. Furthermore, these problems can also have other side effects if left to their own devices long enough, meaning what starts as a headache may become even more serious later.