Neck pain is a sign that something is wrong. It could be a spinal vertebra disc wearing out, spinal vertabral misalignment, muscle trigger points, pinched nerves or many other causes. Neck pain can, many times, also lead to headaches as well.
The kind of problems that can result from having a misaligned spine are:
Tension Headaches, also known as stress-related headaches, are the most common kind of headache. While stress and fatigue can make a headache worse, or trigger the onset of pain, a tension headache often starts with misaligned vertebrae in the neck. This misalignment may irritate a spinal nerve, setting in motion other physical problems, like tightening muscles, and causing the steady vice-like pain of a tension headache.
Pain relievers may temporarily turn the pain off, but if the pain persists, you need to see us at Caraway-Branch Chiropractic to check your spine for misalignments.
Research article on Headaches
For Headaches“Cervical spine manipulation was associated with significant improvement in headache outcomes in trials involving patients with neck pain and/or neck dysfunction and headache.” -- Duke Evidence Report, McCrory, Penzlen, Hasselblad, Gray (2001)
“The results of this study show that spinal manipulative therapy is an effective treatment for tension headaches. . . Four weeks after cessation of treatment . . . the patients who received spinal manipulative therapy experienced a sustained therapeutic benefit in all major outcomes in contrast to the patients that received amitriptyline therapy, who reverted to baseline values.” ‘-- Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, Boline et al. (1995)