[Cervicogenic head and neck pain]

Abstract

It is discussed controversially whether cervicogenic pain in the head and/or neck is a pathogenic entity. The good results obtained with manual therapy in patients with head and neck pain contradict the refusal of the majority of the neurologists to accept the diagnosis "cervicogenic headache." Complaints about headache are frequently encountered in the general ENT clinic. In many cases, the diagnosis of the different types of headaches can be based on the anamnesis. It is difficult to define a tension headache, because it is not a sharply defined syndrome and the disturbance of the neck represents only one of many factors. The versatile picture of the cervicogenic headache is caused by the complex neural connections in the region of the upper cervical spine. The differential diagnosis of the cervicogenic headache is described.