Can a Chiropractor Help Your Headache?

One of the most common symptoms people bring to our office is that of headache. Are headaches chiropractic issues? Ehhhh…it depends.

What I tell our patients is that often times, headaches can start from or be worsened by issues in the neck. The nerves that come out of the top of the neck feed up to the top of the head, and if those nerves get irritated (by something like an alignment issue, for example), that irritation can be felt as a headache. It’s called a cervicogenic headache, if we want to get into doctor-speak.

Of course, there are other causes of headache. Drink a 12-pack of beer the night before? Running on 2 hours of sleep for the last 2 days? Seeing a chiropractor’s probably not your first go-to source for a solution.

So how should you know if your headache is worth having a chiropractor work on it? Those cervicogenic headache usually involve some sort of ache or pain at the top of the neck that travels up into a headache. Anything outside of that, sometimes chiropractic care can be a piece of the puzzle, but rarely the only fix that’s needed!