Today’s blog post comes from Dr. Bellinger ’s Monthly newsletter that he mails to his patients every month. Dr. Bellinger is a chiropractor in Glastonbury, Connecticut and specializes in treating chronic conditions such as neck pain, headaches and lower back pain.
Neck pain and headaches can be very disabling and can significantly alter a person’s normal pattern of living. Simple things like reading the newspaper, cooking, driving a car, and/or looking down when feeding a baby, can become almost intolerable. Canceling plans for the day or saying “no” to vacations can be very disheartening and often occurs because of severe neck pain and/or headache making these activities simply, “no fun.”
The cause of the headaches associated with neck pain and dysfunction is usually due to the compression caused by the tight neck muscles squeezing the upper three nerve roots in the neck region, resulting in radiating pain into the head.
Frequently, light and noise sensitivity, as well as nausea, can accompany a severe headache, which only adds to the activity limitations associated with neck pain. In fact, there are many experts who feel most headaches, even migraines, stem from the neck or are at least are very closely related. Since neck pain affects approximately two thirds of the population at some point during their lifetime, it becomes clear that headaches, in the absence of neck pain, are quite uncommon.
Headaches often involve tightening of the muscles of the neck such as the cervical paraspinals and the suboccipitals. Often tight and tender to touch, they are the one area that should be treated when looking at headache relief. Using a supportive cervical pillow in conjuction with ice helps to decrease inflammation, and provides an analgesic effect. The Headache Ice Pillow, (so aptly named !) has a unique U shaped that allows you to place the pillow under your neck, targeting the posterior cervical muscles.
Neck pain and headaches can be very disabling and can significantly alter a person’s normal pattern of living. Simple things like reading the newspaper, cooking, driving a car, and/or looking down when feeding a baby, can become almost intolerable. Canceling plans for the day or saying “no” to vacations can be very disheartening and often occurs because of severe neck pain and/or headache making these activities simply, “no fun.”
The cause of the headaches associated with neck pain and dysfunction is usually due to the compression caused by the tight neck muscles squeezing the upper three nerve roots in the neck region, resulting in radiating pain into the head.
Frequently, light and noise sensitivity, as well as nausea, can accompany a severe headache, which only adds to the activity limitations associated with neck pain. In fact, there are many experts who feel most headaches, even migraines, stem from the neck or are at least are very closely related. Since neck pain affects approximately two thirds of the population at some point during their lifetime, it becomes clear that headaches, in the absence of neck pain, are quite uncommon.
Headaches often involve tightening of the muscles of the neck such as the cervical paraspinals and the suboccipitals. Often tight and tender to touch, they are the one area that should be treated when looking at headache relief. Using a supportive cervical pillow in conjuction with ice helps to decrease inflammation, and provides an analgesic effect. The Headache Ice Pillow, (so aptly named !) has a unique U shaped that allows you to place the pillow under your neck, targeting the posterior cervical muscles.
Additional Reading Resources:
Visit Arc4life.com for your online selection of cervical supports and cervical traction products for relief of stiff neck, and neck pain