Many of our patients have had amazing results with their headaches. Because I have been immersed in this area of health care for the last 20+ years, I am often surprised that there are still people who come to the office who have never heard about the success Chiropractic has with restoring normal function, and resolving headaches. A headache is one of the most common conditions we see in my office, and this is true of most chiropractors around the world. Over the last decade, headaches represent over 13% of all presenting complaints (it’s also in the top 10 for visits to a medical doctor – number 1 is skin conditions!). Headaches not only have a significant adverse impact on adults but “frequent or severe headaches including migraine in the past 12 months were reported in over 17% of children.” I find the high incidence of headaches in children interesting, as one of the chief drivers of headaches is postural distortions. Go to a mall and look at the posture of the young people today. Notice how most of them are looking down at their phone! Extensive research has addressed the many types of headache and the last year has seen several important publications investigating the effectiveness of chiropractic treatment and chiropractic adjustments.
Researchers are always trying to determine the effectiveness of any health care intervention, and chiropractic care is no different. This work was done by a group of Canadians and documents the research support for chiropractic management (Chiropractic Adjustments) for both migraine and cervicogenic headaches.
A new Dutch study of chronic tension-type headache compared treatment from medical providers in general practice (GP) to chiropractic. That study concluded that “Manual therapy is more effective than usual GP care in the short- and longer term in reducing symptoms of chronic tension-type headache.”
The pain people feel in their head can often be crippling, and its hard for the sufferers to believe that they have no sensory nerve endings in their brain! What they are feeling, is the blood vessels that feed the brain. These are packed with sensory nerve endings. Innervation for these vessels actually comes from the neck! When the nerves are irritated from subluxation in the neck, headaches are often what is felt (though not always). When the chiropractor adjusts the subluxation, restoring normal function to the segment (the cause), the brain can then deal with the headache (the symptom).
Some other tips to help with headaches
- Stay hydrated! That means water – just water.
- Multiply your weight by 2/3 – that’s roughly the amount of water in ounces you should drink.
- Getting sweaty in your workouts? Add 12 oz for every half hour you work out.
- Multiply your weight by 2/3 – that’s roughly the amount of water in ounces you should drink.
- Follow a low inflammatory diet.
- Avoid sugar = bread, rice, pasta, grains, flour…
- Avoid processed foods
- Avoid vegetable oils, canola, margarine
- Avoid caffeine and alcohol
- Increase healthy fats like olive oil, coconut oil
- Increase Omega 3’s
- Increase dark leafy greens, and above ground vegetables
- Get more sleep – strive for 8 hours.
- Limit time looking at electronic devices!
- Exercise – try high intense, low duration type exercises.
- Have your spine checked for subluxations!
If you have felt the benefit of Chiropractic, leave us a note, others may benefit from your story. If you would like to discover the benefits of corrective care Chiropractic, please feel free to give us a call!