There is a big difference between having a headache once or twice a year, and living with regular headaches, let alone migraines. When your head hurts, it’s hard to do much of anything else. It’s difficult to not snap at people when you’re struggling to do simple tasks and get through another day of headaches. Popping another pill may help with some of the pain sometimes, but it’s often not enough and it’s not a lasting solution.
For many people, the source of the headaches is structural. This means there may be something inside your body not quite in its natural alignment, and it’s causing you constant and regular pain. Sometimes this pain may go away for a while, only to come back in a neverending cycle. Fortunately, Chiropractors can help solve this problem. Unfortunately, not everyone knows this. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at what could be causing your headaches or migraines and how chiropractic treatments at Amplify Chiropractic can naturally resolve the problem.
SUFFERING FROM HEADACHES?
Headaches are an irritation that is felt in your temples, behind your eyes, at the base of your skull, or somewhere else in your head.
Your head contains some of the most essential parts of your body to help you function. The brain that controls your body, the eyes that allow you to see, the ears that help you hear, and so much more.
Since it is such a major control center of your body, it is imperative that when something feels off, you figure out the issue. Headaches can be caused by injury, stress, trauma, strained blood vessels or nerves, dehydration, pain from other areas such as the neck, and so many other possibilities.
Whether or not you feel as though this issue is serious or not, headaches can be an indication that something else is going on in your body. Our brains have adapted over time to find ways to alert us when there is a malfunction in our body that requires attention.
Once the initial irritation has been experienced, it can progress into a much more severe issue that can cause major problems in your health. Left untreated, headaches can progress into migraines or neuropathy issues. We don’t want you to be in any condition where you feel limited due to the effects of something such as a headache.
Often, a nerve in your cervical spine has become pinched or irritated in a way that requires Chiropractic care to be fixed. Rather than masking your symptoms with painkillers or medications, we are able to gently manipulate your spine back into place so that it can allow the proper function of your nervous system and eliminate the cause of your headaches.
SUFFERING FROM MIGRAINES?
Being a migraine headache sufferer, you know how difficult it is to get relief. You are suffering, that is a fact. But what can you do about it to actually fix the problem?
Migraine headaches can be completely debilitating. Everything gets harder with migraines and just getting through the day can be not only a feat in itself but can also bring on waves of total exhaustion.
And if you get a migraine bad enough you will often feel nausea and end up vomiting. Migraine headaches can affect anyone, although women tend to have a higher prevalence of migraines than men.
Often migraine headaches can present in two ways:
CLASSIC MIGRAINE:
This typically presents as a migraine headache with the presence of an aura, which often looks like a lot of lights or dots in your vision. Sometimes migraines will cause other disruptions to your vision. Classic migraine headaches often begin with what is called a prodrome (essentially a warning you are about to get a headache). This prodrome often consists of an increasing blind spot surrounded by flashing lights. Often this will last for about 30 minutes before being replaced by a debilitating headache that can last anywhere from 1-3 days.
COMMON MIGRAINE:
This typically presents as a migraine headache without the presence of an aura. Which means you still get all the symptoms except for the flashy lights or dots. Common migraine headaches, without an aura, are often felt on one side of the head and are recurrent. There are no neurological or visual symptoms, but nausea and vomiting can accompany the headache.
Regardless of which migraine headache you suffer from, they can be equally debilitating.
There are many possible reasons why migraines occur which is why it is important to understand the exact cause of your migraine headaches so that the appropriate treatment can be administered.
HEADACHES AND MIGRAINES TREATMENT
Headaches and migraines come with a variety of symptoms. There may be a pain, which may present itself only in certain areas or all over. It may be a persistent ache or a recurring throbbing. Some people just feel the pain, others feel more symptoms associated with migraines, like nausea, depression, irritation, and light and noise intolerance. Finding even temporary relief from these symptoms is often a struggle.
If the issue is structural, which it often is, then fixing the structural issue can get to the source of the problem.
Your spinal column is made up of 33 small interlocking bones known as vertebrae. The spinal column is the center vertical column of the body, from the hips up through the neck. There are many nerve bundles around the spinal column. The spinal column contains many small joints, and when any one of the vertebrae fall out of proper alignment, they can easily irritate the surrounding nerves.
How do vertebrae come out of alignment? This can occur in a sudden incident, like a car accident or other trauma to the body. It can also happen through repeated stress. Sitting at a desk all day with poor posture can cause the vertebrae to shift. Spending a long weekend helping your friend can put a lot of stress on the body. The motions may be small and seem harmless or make our muscles instantly sore. The bigger issue is that the repetitive nature of these examples is sometimes too much for the body and misalignment occurs.
This can cause a wide variety of problems. In the instance of headaches, it’s often the case that a misalignment causes compression or irritation for the surrounding nerves. The nerves will then alert the surrounding muscles, like those in the back, neck, or jaw, to tighten. The tight muscles cause tension in the head and cause a headache or migraine.
When left untreated, this constant muscle tightness can cause bones to move out of alignment, leading to more headaches or migraine problems.
Because your spine is such a central part of the anatomy, issues here can impact your health across your entire body. Headaches or migraines are a strong indicator of poor spinal health. When left untreated, the problems can become worse, so it’s important to seek out help as soon as possible.
CHIROPRACTIC CARE FOR HEADACHES AND MIGRAINES
Chiropractors are trained in spinal health. After completing an exam and taking down your medical history, a chiropractor can work with you to discover the source of your headaches and create a treatment plan. This plan will address the source of the problem and involve gentle adjustments to return the body to its natural, healthy alignment. These adjustments will provide instant relief, but also work to restore spinal health for the long term.
If you have headaches or migraines, you know how debilitating the pain can be. Contact Amplify Chiropractic today to schedule an appointment and begin the work toward long term relief.
