Headaches after a Motor Vehicle Accident

Many people experience headaches after motor vehicle accidents. While many are the result of muscle spasms at the base of the skull, some are a result of injury to ligaments between the top two cervical (neck) vertebrae, the “Atlas” and “Axis”. This is diagnosed by first taking plain film X-rays of the cervical spine, and then following up with a specialized MRI.  We typically don’t take that specialized MRI in the first few weeks following the accident.  Many people who have chronic headaches (headache syndromes that never go away) after the rest of their motor vehicle accident injuries have recovered may not have had a full diagnosis. We shoudl take a look at that!