Is the cervical lordosis a key biomechanical biomarker in cervicogenic headache?: a Chiropractic Biophysics® case report with follow-up.
Miles O Fortner, Thomas J Woodham, Paul A Oakley and 1 others
PMID 35221522WHAT IT FOUND
One woman with chronic cervicogenic headache reported a 90% drop in headache severity and frequency after 25 chiropractic sessions.
Her neck curve changed from kyphosis to lordosis, and she maintained these gains at 2.5 years. This is a single case, not proof of efficacy.
Key findings
01After 25 treatment sessions over 8 weeks, the patient reported a 90% reduction in headache severity and frequency, and her headache disability index score dropped from 66% to 16%.
02Radiographic analysis showed the patient's cervical spine curve changed from a kyphosis of -7.5° to a lordosis of -36°, and this correction was largely maintained at a 2.5-year follow-up with a measurement of -33.3°.
03The treatment protocol combined cervical extension traction, manual adjustments, corrective exercises on a vibration plate, and a home exercise program, making it impossible to determine which specific component produced the change.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
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What it does not show
This is a single case report, so the results cannot be generalized to other patients with cervicogenic headache. The treatment involved multiple simultaneous interventions including manual therapy, traction, vibration plate exercises, and home orthotics, so the specific contribution of any single component is unknown. The authors have significant financial conflicts of interest with the Chiropractic BioPhysics organization and products used in the study. There was no control group, so natural history or placebo effects cannot be ruled out as causes of the improvement.
Declared interests
One author is a paid consultant for CBP NonProfit, Inc. Another author teaches chiropractic rehabilitation methods and sells products used in the manuscript.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the dramatic radiographic change and symptom relief as evidence that cervical extension traction causes clinical improvement in cervicogenic headache. This is a single case report with no control group and a multi-modal treatment package, so it cannot establish causality or efficacy.