Chiropractic Care For Headaches: Chiropractors Were Right

Chiropractic and the Cervicogenic Headache Model
Until recently, the medical understanding of headaches has not taken into account the chiropractic model. The concept that headache pain can originate from cervical dysfunction is still completely foreign to most of the medical profession. Noted researcher Nikolai Bogduk, MD, PhD, professor of anatomy at Newcastle, Australia, commented: “The people in control of the headache field seemingly have not, cannot, or will not, recognize this paradox … that the model for cervicogenic headache is not only the best evolved of all headaches but is testable in vivo, in patients with headache complaints. No other form of headache has that facility.”

Several years ago, a Canadian anesthesiologist, Peter Rothbart, MD, FRCPC, came to the same conclusions about the cervicogenic headache. Dr. Rothbart made many observations in his own pain management practice, which subsequently led to an article in the Toronto Star, the most widely read newspaper in Canada. The Toronto Star article, “A Pain in the Neck,” was subtitled: “Chiropractors were right.”

“Many headaches are caused by damaged structures in the neck — and scientific evidence proves it.” The article explained that years ago, French medical professor Robert Maigne “came to believe that many headaches originated with a structural problem in the neck.” He was “thought to be a lunatic,” said Dr. Rothbart. But others took up Dr. Maigne’s work, including Dr. Nikolai Bogduk.

In 1995, a team of MDs at Syracuse University established neck problems as the cause of many headaches “with scientific, anatomical proof.” Dr. Rothbart termed the Syracuse results “a minor miracle.” In the Toronto Star article, Dr. Rothbart made several insightful comments:

“Some brilliant people have put their hearts, souls and minds to this (headache) problem and haven’t come up with anything. All we’ve been able to do is treat people with an array of medicines, one after the other, and hope the side effects won’t be too bad.

We couldn’t believe it at first. We’ve been able to put together a scientific explanation for how neck structure causes headaches — not all headaches, but a significant number of them.

It’s true that chiropractors have been saying this for years. Unfortunately, many (medical) doctors tend to have a jaundiced view of chiropractors, but they were right about headaches.

This conference will demonstrate the anatomy and physiology of cervicogenic headache and will show the importance of manipulation as a method of treatment. This will be the first conference bringing together chiropractors and neurologists. It will help to validate chiropractic practice to some of the most skeptical medical practitioners and so benefit all practitioners involved in treatment of chronic headaches.”

Chiropractic Care For Tension Headaches (Video)

Missing Anatomical Link Supports Chiropractic for Headaches
Lead by assistant professor Gary Hack, DDS, scientists at the University of Maryland discovered a “physical connection between the muscular system and the central nervous system.”

The discovery, a serendipitous result of dissecting a cadaver at an unorthodox angle to view the mastication musculature, is a connective tissue “bridge” that attaches the rectus capitis posterior minor muscle (RCPM, which extends from the base of the skull to the atlas) to the dura that surrounds the brain and spinal cord at the atlanto-occipital junction. This tissue bridge was not an anomaly, but was present in all 10 of the cadavers dissected.

The findings of Hack et al. were published in May 1995. Considering that gross human anatomy had been studied for 500 years, and that the RCPM muscle had long been described in great detail in anatomy books, the discovery by Hack et al. brought forth a healthy skepticism from the field.

The key to the discovery was making their incision from the side of the neck, which exposed the muscle-dura tissue bridge, while conventional dissection from the back of the neck does not.

A group of researchers from Western Australia echoed similar findings in 1996, but by then the Maryland scientists had received reports of a connective tissue bridge at the C-1/C-2 junction, and had conducted additional research demonstrating another bridge at T-1 and T-2. To further verify their findings, Dr. Hack and his group used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) on cadavers and live subjects.

What’s the Big Deal?
The importance of the tissue bridge is of course being debated. It is known that the dura surrounding the spinal cord and brain is extremely sensitive. What has been postulated is that this bridge is designed to keep the dura from buckling, which would “compromise the flow of cerebrospinal fluid” and cause pain.

But Dr. Hack recognized and reported an additional aspect of his findings: “The Maryland Scientists speculate that the newly described muscle-dura connection may transmit forces from neck muscles to the pain-sensitive dura. As already noted, not all the mechanisms of headaches are fully understood. Some researchers believe that headache pain is primarily caused by changes in brain chemistry that result in a lowering of the threshold at which pain is perceived. An increasing number of researchers postulate that headache pain may be produced by structures located in the neck. While the notion that headache may arise from cervical (neck) structures may be new to some medical practitioners, it is a concept that is widely accepted by chiropractors, osteopaths, and other professionals who regularly perform manipulative procedures involving the cervical spine.

“A growing body of literature relates headaches to injury or pathology affecting neck structures. Moreover, a number of clinical trials have suggested that treatments such as massage, spinal manipulation, and biofeedback directed at the neck are valuable for managing muscle-contraction headaches. Spinal manipulation as a treatment for tension headache is predicated upon the assumption that dysfunction in the neck muscles contributes to the head pain; in the U.S. more than 90% of such procedures are performed by chiropractors. The muscle-dura connection may represent — at least in part — the underlying anatomic basis for the effectiveness of this treatment. Such treatment, as performed by a chiropractor, would decrease muscle tension and thereby reduce or eliminate pain by reducing the potential forces exerted on the dura via the muscle-dura connection.”1

References
1. The anatomist’s new tools. 1998 Medical and Health Annual, Encyclopedia Britannica, 1997.
2. Hack GD, Koritzer RT, Robinson WL, Hallgren RC, Greenman PE. Anatomic relation between the rectus capitis posterior minor muscle and the dura matter. Spine 1995;20:2484-2486.
3. Taylor JR, Taylor MM, Twomey LT. Letters. Spine 1996;21:2300-2302.

The Effectiveness of Chiropractic Care for Cervicogenic Headaches

There it is, as reported in the Medical and Health Annual published by the Encyclopedia Britannica. The “underlying anatomical basis for the effectiveness” of the chiropractic adjustment for cervicogenic headache has been found.