Architectural Alterations of the Cervical Spine in Headache Patients

Frogley H, Wallace H Conference Proceedings of the Chiropractic Centennial1995 Jul: 356

Introduction: Alterations in the kinematics of the cervical are believed to be associated to headaches. The upper cervical vertebrae become “blocked” to normal motion by elevated cervical spinal processes resulting from kyphotic posture. Based on thirty years practice experience,the principal investigator observed that many patients with headaches noted diminished frequency and intensity of those headaches when adjusted from a cephalic to caudal line of drive of the second cervical vertebra. The purpose of this paper is to point out the kinematic changes in the cervical spine and the headache relief following chiropractic adjustments. Five cases o chronic headache bearing a “blocked” vertebral configuration identified by video fluroscopic x-ray were relieved of headache after spinal correction. In all five subjects pain intensity and frequency of headache were measured with Visual Analog Scale (VAS) and a journal recording the daily total hours of headache suffering.

Material and Method: A case series of five (5) subjects with a previous history of chronic headaches were selected for this paper.Patients must have a had a recurrent history of headaches for at least six months to be considered chronic. A complete physical and history for each subject was taken including cervical x-ray series with VF sagittal viewing. Based on measurements taken from the VF recordings, intervertebral flexion-extension angles were calculated using the Arlen Method at the beginning and end ofa twelve week period. Both the Visual Analog Scale and journal of daily headache hour were recorded weekly for this study.

Results: Each subject received between thirteen and thirty chiropractic adjustments over a period of twelve to fourteen weeks. There were apparent significant changes in inter-segmental ROM as determined by the flexion and extension measurements, and reduction in both the severity by Visual Analog Scale and duration by the journal of daily headache hours.

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