A cranial cervical headache is referred to as pain (pain perceived as occurring in a part of the body other than its true source) perceived in the head from a source in the neck. Cervicogenic headache is a secondary headache, which means that it is caused by another illness or physical issue. In the case of cervicogenic headache, the cause is a disorder of the cervical spine and its component bone, disc or soft tissue elements.
Typically, people with a craniocervical junction disorder have neck pain, often with a headache that starts at the back of the head. Symptoms can start after a slight neck injury or for no apparent reason. Moving the head usually makes neck pain and headache worse, and coughing or bending forward can trigger it.
If there is pressure on the spinal cord, the arms and/or legs may feel weak, and people may have difficulty moving them. People may be unable to sense where their limbs are (called position sense) or feel vibration. When they bend their neck forward, they may feel an electrical shock or a tingling sensation shooting down their back, often into their legs (called Lhermitte sign). In some cases, people become less sensitive to pain in their limbs.
