What is Cervicogenic Headache? Look for These Symptoms

Headache is one of the most commonly experienced heath issues that bother a lot of people on a daily basis. It can be triggered by many factors including lack of sleep, fatigue, hunger, and weather changes among others. However, if you are witnessing recurrent headache that arise from the neck, then there can be other factors behind it.

Cervicogenic headache is the type of headache whose source lies in the neck and which causes pain up to the head. Such headaches are usually steady and result in a dully feeling for a person. Sometimes the headache can get severe where intensity of the pain increases.

Cervicogenic headache initially emerges as an intermittent pain but can later progress to result in continuous pain.

Symptoms of cervicogenic headache

The symptoms of cervicogenic headache can be a lot like migraine which makes it difficult to distinguish between the two. Here, the main difference is that while migraine pain is rooted in the brain, the source of cervicogenic headache pain lies in the neck or cervical spine or the base of the skull region.

Below are some of the symptoms that a person having cervicogenic headache can witness.

• One may feel pain originating from the neck and spreading to the forehead and area around the eye temple, and ear.
• A reduced flexibility of the neck can also be felt.
• Apart from the neck and head, one may experience pain along the shoulder and arm on the same side.
• Blurriness in vision and eye swelling on the effected side has been seen in some cases.
• Cervicogenic headache pain mostly affects the same side of the head and neck but sometimes both sides can get affected too.

Causes

Cervicogenic headache can be triggered due to neurologic or physical conditions including fracture, whiplash injury, or a prolapsed disc in the neck. Sustaining an injury while playing sports or doing some physical activity can also lead to cervicogenic headache. For some, bad posture while sitting or standing at work can also trigger such headaches.

Treatment

Cervicogenic headaches can be treated through various ways that include medication and physical therapy. In some cases, surgery or injection can also be used to treat the problem.

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