Does anyone gets headaches from Cervic Spine stenosis?

Yes, I do and so sorry you have to go through that. Mine spreads from my neck, up the back of my head, and across both sides to my temples. I also get horrible spasms including in my face and throat, to the point that I feel like I'm being strangled at times.

What helped me somewhat was a tens unit, but you have to be VERY careful where around your neck to place it. I learned that the hard way. It helped somewhat by distracting me from the pain and tension. Once or twice, I stuck the tens pad to close to the side of my neck and it caused such sharp pain there, it felt like I was being stabbed in my jugular. Much better if I place it right below the base of my neck or near my shoulder blade.

I also use moist heating pads and at time they help quite a bit, other times, not so much. I guess it just depends on the severity of the stenosis and how each person reacts to pain & pain relievers.

Yes. I get them on the back of my head starting at the occiput and radiating down to my shoulder and up over my head. They are temporarily relied my lymphatic drainage massage. I’ve learned to do it myself because I often have todo it several times a day. I am pretty sure it isn’t nerve entrapment. I have a C4/5 fusion and have had a long series of micro surgeries for foraminal stenosis at all but one of the operable levels. But then I have Arachnoiditis of long standing and have recently suffered a dissection of the nerve root at L1 left and am now trying to learn to live with hemiparesis. So the disruption of CSF circulation is probably pretty bad.

@lemans77
I have congenital spinal stenosis, degenerative disc disease and cervical myelopathy (spinal cord compression injury).

I had ACDF surgery on c5-c6 to remove bone spurs and disc pressing on spinal cord/nerve roots. This was in 2022. Before surgery, I had daily headaches, neck/shoulder pain and muscle knots in shoulder blades, arm/hand weakness/numbness and radiculating pain. My bladder control and walking was also affected by this. Most of my symptoms improved after surgery. They needed to do surgery because I was misdiagnosed over 5 years and my 4th orthopedic spine specialist surgeon said my spinal cord was being injured and symptoms could become permanent.

Depending on what shows up in your MRI and your symptoms/reflexes/physical exam, you may want to try physical therapy and spinal injections for pain. You can try sleeping in a cervical support pillow and use Salonpas lidocaine pain patches on your neck to help you sleep. I would always wake up with headaches due to sleeping positions and nerve compression.

@lemans77 Cervicogenic headaches are common with. cervical spine issues. There are a lot of muscle spasms that start moving vertebrae around and while a muscle on one side is contracting, it stretches the other side because it’s being yanked by the vertebrae bone. Physical therapy can help and myofascial release therapy to release tension in tight tissue. I had this a lot prior to my spine fusion of C5/C6 and since then it’s much better. There can also be laxity of the discs allowing shifting laterally or forward or backward or twisting. My C1 and C2 would twist causing a headache of one side of the back of my head.