A cervicogenic headache is referred pain. The upper cervical joints and the muscles that attach to the base of the skull share nerve supply with the structures that hurt when you have a headache, so an irritated joint at the top of the neck can produce pain felt behind the eye. The patient experiences a headache. The problem is two inches lower.
The pattern is usually recognizable once you know what to look for: one-sided rather than both sides, building through a day at a desk rather than arriving fully formed, reproducible when the upper neck is examined, and accompanied by a neck that has quietly lost some rotation. Many people have stopped noticing the neck part entirely, because the headache is louder.
Where that is the picture, chiropractic is aimed at exactly the right structure. Restoring the movement at the segments involved, settling the muscles at the base of the skull, and changing what the neck does for eight hours a day are the three things that matter, and the third is usually the one that decides whether the change holds.
Some headaches are not mechanical and will not respond, and a clinician who cannot say so is not worth seeing. Migraine with aura, headaches with visual disturbance, and headaches that come with nausea and light sensitivity in a stereotyped pattern belong in a different conversation, though a neck component can coexist with migraine and can still be worth treating.
A headache that is the worst you have ever had and arrived in seconds, a headache with fever and neck stiffness, a new headache after a head injury, a headache that wakes you from sleep every night, or one accompanied by weakness, speech difficulty or confusion are reasons for urgent assessment rather than conservative care.
Where the answer lies elsewhere, Pain Management is in the same practice, Acupuncture is an option some patients get useful results from, and headaches and migraines covers the whole picture. Acupuncture for migraines is the companion page on that side.
Three adjusting techniques are used here and which one you get depends on you rather than on habit. Diversified is the hands-on adjustment most people picture, with the audible release. Drop-table, also called Thompson, uses a table section that drops a short distance so the force needed is smaller. Activator is a handheld instrument delivering a single light impulse, and it is the usual choice for an irritable joint, an older patient, or anyone who would rather not be twisted.
Spinal decompression is available where a disc is involved and there are leg or arm symptoms, and dry needling for the muscular component that survives the adjustment. What you do between visits is usually the part that decides whether the change holds.
The escalation runs on one chart. If the picture changes, Physical Therapy, Acupuncture and Pain Management are in the same building, so a change of direction is a conversation rather than a new referral and another wait.
Under Medicare, chiropractic coverage is spinal manipulation only. The examination, imaging and any therapies performed alongside the adjustment are billed separately and are not covered under that benefit. What Medicare covers for chiropractic care goes through it in full, and our Medicare Advantage page covers the plans that add to it.
On commercial plans, Chiropractic is commonly covered with an annual visit cap counted across every provider you have seen this year. Our team verifies your benefits before your first visit, so the number is known in advance. The insurance page has the full payer list for both states.
Colorado (16 clinics) — Academy in Colorado Springs, Arapahoe, Central Park, Downtown Denver, Greeley, Harmony in Fort Collins, Highlands Ranch, Interquest in north Colorado Springs, Lafayette, Lakewood, Lone Tree, Lowry, Northglenn, Southlands, Tenderfoot in south Colorado Springs, Wadsworth.
Arizona (6 clinics) — Chandler, Deer Valley, Dunlap in north Phoenix, Mesa, Peoria, Westgate in Glendale.
Each clinic page lists the address, the hours and what a first visit involves. No referral is needed for Chiropractic, and our goal is to get you in within the same week.
With some of them. Headaches referred from the upper neck respond well to care directed at the neck, and that group is larger than most people expect. The examination is what works out which kind you have.
Common signs are pain on one side, a headache that builds through a desk day, tenderness when the upper neck is pressed, and neck rotation that has quietly become restricted. None is proof on its own, which is why it is examined rather than assumed.
Migraine is a different mechanism and is not a mechanical neck problem. A neck component can coexist with migraine, and treating it can still be worth doing, but you should expect an honest answer about what is realistic rather than a promise.
Examination first, then an adjustment chosen for the segments involved, soft tissue work at the base of the skull where that is what the tissue needs, and dry needling where the muscular component is the limiting factor.
A headache that is the worst you have had and arrived in seconds, one with fever and neck stiffness, a new headache after a head injury, one that wakes you nightly, or one with weakness, speech difficulty or confusion. Those need urgent assessment.
You should notice a change within a small number of visits, and your clinician should tell you what they expect and by when. If it is not working, you should hear that rather than keep booking.
Medicare covers spinal manipulation only. The examination, imaging and any therapies performed alongside it are billed separately and are not covered under that benefit.
No. Chiropractic at Mountain View Pain Center does not require one, and neither do Physical Therapy, Pain Management or Acupuncture. If your own plan requires one, our team will tell you when they verify your benefits.
Day or night, seven days a week — and we’ll text you back to get you scheduled. No referral is needed, and our goal is to see you within the same week. Colorado scheduling runs through one number for every Colorado clinic: (720) 749-5599.
