his case will illustrate, have found relief from upper thoracic adjustments after receiving no relief from cervical adjustments.Case ReportIn the following case, a headache of mechanical origin was unsuccessfully treated with upper cervical adjustments to the Occiput/C1 and the C1/C2 joint couples, but successfully treated with a short-lever, high-amplitude, low-force chiropractic adjustment to the upper thoracic spine, specifically the first thoracic.The patient was a 23-year-old Caucasian male who was a student at Palmer College of Chiropractic. He had been a student between four and six months when he experienced his first headache. It occurred after a week of exams, which he reported studying for an average 4 hours per night for five consecutive nights. The patient presented three days after the symptoms began and no relief had been experienced. He complained of constant suboccipital pain that worsened with flexion or extension of the cervical spine. His symptoms were better in the morning, but worsened as the day progressed and lessened only with rest. Pain was rated at a 6 on a scale of 0-10. The patient was not taking any analgesics due to his health philosophy. The patient recalled no traumatic event that brought on the headache, but acknowledged studying with his head in a flexed position the previous week. Objective findings revealed the patient had decreased right rotation of cervical spine as well as decreased right lateral flexion. A dual probe, a thermal instrument that measures temperature difference across a vertebral segment, revealed a break at Occiput/ Atlas. Increased muscle tension was noted at the left suboccipital region as well as bilateral spasm of the levator scapulae. Vertebral artery integrity tests were unremarkable. X-Rays revealed slight hypolordosis of the cervical spine with no other remarkable findings. Segmental motion tests in the cervical spine revealed decreased P to A occipital glide on ...
