Recently, a patient in my office named Heather, said: “I wish I had known my migraine headaches were coming from my neck. I’d’ve come to you years ago.” Heather had suffered with migraine headaches several times a month for 10 years. Her headaches were quite debilitating. Most the time she was nauseous and needed to lie down in a dark room with a chilly pack on her brow. Again and again, she needed to cancel planned activities with family and friends if a migraine developed.
Fortunately, chiropractic care helped Heather to significantly reduce the frequency and intensity of her headaches. She was in a position to go months with no headache and if one did develop it was often mild and he or she could get relief by putting a chilly pack the back of her neck.
This text will discuss migraine headaches and their relationship to the neck area, also called the cervical spine. Chiropractic care as a possible treatment for this condition can be detailed. A recent research study noting an association between neck pain and migraine conditions can be analyzed.
Roughly 12% of the US population, including children, suffers from migraine headaches. Females are thrice more more likely to experience migraine headaches than males. Migraine headaches are considered to be more debilitating than common stress or tension headaches. Symptoms of migrainous headaches are a severe sharp, throbbing pain on one or either side of the top. Nausea and vomiting commonly occur. Some people’s migraines develop spontaneously while others are triggered by certain foods, smells, visual and auditory sensations and stimulations.
For a few years, chiropractors have noted an association between the bones of the upper neck, also called the upper cervical spine and various forms of headaches including migraines. Chiropractors are trained to look at and analyze the alignment and movement of those bones called vertebrae. If the vertebrae of the upper cervical spine are misaligned and moving improperly it might cause irritation of the joints and nerves of the realm and this could be a source and reason for a headache.
A recent research study published in Cephalgia, May 2019 noted that amongst a bunch of 142 patients with a history of migraines, those with concurrent neck pain reported 80% more migraine related disability than participants without neck pain. The findings add to a growing body of research that implies the neck plays a task within the migraine headache process, as previous studies have noted an association between cervical dysfunction (improper movement of the upper cervical bones) and migraine intensity and frequency.
Doctors Of Chiropractic have the experience and expertise to judge the upper cervical spine to find out if there may be an issue with this area that may be helped. If help may be provided a chiropractor will utilize treatment called spinal manipulation (also called a spinal vertebral adjustment) to soundly and gently correct the reason for the issue. When this happens a substantial variety of patients who’ve suffered with migraine headaches have been in a position to find improvement of their condition.
It might be smart and prudent for anyone affected by migraine headaches to seek the advice of a chiropractor. For over hundred 25 years chiropractic care has been a conservative, protected, gentle drug-free approach to giving people freedom from headaches.
