There are a lot of things that people don’t know about headaches and migraines, such as:
- Nine out of ten Americans suffer from headaches.
- Headaches are almost always a symptom of a problem, not the problem themselves.
- A lot of headaches and migraines can often originate from neck problems.
With headaches and migraines costing us more than 250 million lost work days per year, they are a serious problem in desperate need of a cure.
Causes
While there are many things that can cause headaches, such as: dehydration, poor health and environmental triggers (light, sound and stress), the largest majority of headaches are associated with neck tension and irritation of the nerves and blood vessels in the neck.
A misalignment in your neck not only irritates nerve roots, but can cause minor blood vessel constriction – affecting the blood supply to your brain, as well as muscle and nerve issues.
When nerve communication between your brain and body is impaired, major problems can occur, such as headaches and migraines. This is where chiropractic comes in.
Treatment
According to a 2014 report, it was found that chiropractic care can improve migraines (both the frequency and duration) and chiropractic as a treatment for neck problems has far-reaching benefits that can extend to headache treatment.
Unlike most doctors, chiropractors approach the treatment of headaches in a completely different way.
Since chiropractors know that headaches are often a symptom, and not the actual problem, they work to locate the root cause of the problem and, by treating that, then treat your headaches as a result.
Chiropractors treat subluxations, or out-of-alignment spinal joints that affect nerve communications between your brain and body. By correcting these subluxations through spinal manipulation (among other chiropractic treatments) head pain is relieved.
By performing a spinal examination and testing your range-of-motion and pain levels, a chiropractor will be able to determine if your headaches are the result of a spinal subluxation.
Even if your headaches aren’t directly caused by a subluxation (though they often are), the presence of a subluxation can be greatly aggravating your condition.
The good news, however, is that headaches and migraines can have immediate improvement directly following a spinal adjustment.
Though each person’s condition varies, chiropractic trains your body how to heal itself through proper alignment and function, resulting in pain relief throughout your body!
By assessing your body and condition as a whole, and tailoring a treatment plan to suit your exact needs, chiropractors have the potential to greatly improve your life and alleviate your headache symptoms.
Contact Healthfirst SPine & Wellness in Austin today to request a free consultation and take a step in the right direction towards headache and migraine relief!