Tension headaches due to poor posture and stress effect over 20% of the community. Dr Shaun from Cranbourne Chiropractic Centre says that the latest research shows how chiropractic adjustments can make a positive impact on these headaches and the patients’ quality of life.
Relationship of the neck and headaches
The trigeminocervical nucleus is a region of the upper cervical spinal cord where sensory nerve fibers in the descending tract of the trigeminal nerve (trigeminal nucleus caudalis) are believed to interact with sensory fibers from the upper cervical roots. This functional convergence of upper cervical and trigeminal sensory pathways allows the bidirectional referral of painful sensations between the neck and trigeminal sensory receptive fields of the face and head. A functional convergence of sensorimotor fibers in the spinal accessory nerve (CN XI) and upper cervical nerve roots ultimately converge with the descending tract of the trigeminal nerve and might also be responsible for the referral of cervical pain to the head.
2 studies looking at Tension Type Headaches (TTH)
1. Espí-López GV, Rodríguez-Blanco C, Oliva-Pascual-Vaca A, Molina-Martínez F, Falla D. Do manual therapy techniques have a positive effect on quality of life in people with tension-type headache? A randomized controlled trial. Eur J Phys Rehabil Med. 2016 Aug;52(4):447-56. Epub 2016 Feb 29. PubMed PMID: 26928164.
AIM:
To assess the quality of life of patients suffering from TTH treated for 4 weeks with different manual therapy techniques.
POPULATION:
Seventy-six (62 women) patients aged between 18 and 65 years (age: 39.9±10.9) with either episodic or chronic TTH.
METHODS:
Patients were divided into four groups: suboccipital inhibitory pressure; suboccipital spinal manipulation; a combination of the two treatments; control. Quality of life was assessed using the SF-12 questionnaire (considering both the overall score and the different dimensions) at the beginning and end of treatment, and after a one month follow-up.
CONCLUSIONS:
All three treatments were effective at changing different dimensions of quality of life, but the combined treatment showed the most change. The results support the effectiveness of treatments applied to the suboccipital region for patients with TTH.
CLINICAL REHABILITATION IMPACT:
Manual therapy techniques applied to the suboccipital region, for as little as four weeks, offered a positive improvement in some aspects of quality of life of patient’s suffering with TTH.
2. Espí-López GV, Zurriaga-Llorens R, Monzani L, Falla D. The effect of
manipulation plus massage therapy versus massage therapy alone in people with tension-type headache. A randomized controlled clinical trial. Eur J Phys Rehabil Med. 2016 Oct;52(5):606-617. Epub 2016 Mar 18. PubMed PMID: 26989818.
BACKGROUND:
Manipulative techniques have shown promising results for relief of tension-type headache (TTH), however prior studies either lacked a control group, or suffered from poor methodological quality. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of spinal manipulation combined with massage versus massage alone on range of motion of the cervical spine, headache frequency, intensity and disability in patients with TTH.
POPULATION:
We enrolled 105 subjects with TTH.
METHODS:
Participants were divided into two groups: 1) manipulation and massage; 2) massage only (control). Four treatment sessions were applied over four weeks. The Headache Disability Inventory (HDI) and range of upper cervical and cervical motion were evaluated at baseline, immediately after the intervention and at a follow-up, 8 weeks after completing the intervention.
RESULTS:
Both groups demonstrated a large (ƒ=1.22) improvement on their HDI scores. Those that received manipulation reported a medium-sized reduction (ƒ=0.33) in headache frequency across all data points (P<0.05) compared to the control group.
CONCLUSIONS:
These findings support the benefit of treating TTH with either massage or massage combined with a manipulative technique. However, the addition of manipulative technique was more effective for increasing range of motion of the upper cervical spine and for reducing the impact of headache.
CLINICAL REHABILITATION IMPACT:
Although massage provided relief of headache in TTH sufferers, when combined with cervical manipulation, there was a stronger effect on range of upper cervical spine motion.