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Roentgenographic Findings of the Cervical Spine in Tension‐Type Headache
Author(s) -
Nagasawa Arata,
Sakakibara Toshimasa,
Takahashi Akira
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
headache: the journal of head and face pain
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.14
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1526-4610
pISSN - 0017-8748
DOI - 10.1111/j.1526-4610.1993.hed3302090.x
Subject(s) - shoulders , medicine , cervical spine , traction (geology) , surgery , anatomy , geology , geomorphology
SYNOPSIS Roentgenographic studies were carried out on 372 patients with tension‐type headache and 225 normal control subjects to determine relationships between straightened cervical spines, low‐set shoulders, and cervical spine instability. A great majority of the patients with tension‐type headache were found also to have straightened cervical spine. Patients with tension‐type headache may have a restricted progression of the cervical spinal Iordosis, which results in a straightened cervical spine. The flexor muscles of the head and neck prevent physiological Iordosis of the cervical spine, and their sustained chronic contraction may be a principal cause of a straightened neck. The low‐set shoulder was frequently seen in patients with tension‐type headache, and it may result in traction of the brachial plexus, which gives rise to pain in the neck and shoulders. Cervical spine instability, on the other hand, was rather infrequent in patients with tension‐type headache. Its relationship to tension‐type headache is unclear and warrants further study. Our results suggest that both a straightened cervical spine and low‐set shoulders may play an important role in the pathogenesis of tension‐type headache and its accessory symptoms.