Can chiropractic help headaches?
Yes, we can! But let us understand some facts first!
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO). 50-75% of adults aged 18-65 have experienced a headache in the last year! 30% of these individuals have reported to suffer from migraines.
Most people experience headaches at some point in their life and the severity and type of headache can vary. Understanding the type of headache, you may be experiencing is important and usually the location and description of the pain gives a good insight into what kind of headache you may have.
When visiting a chiropractor with a headache, it is very crucial for us to determine if this is a headache we can treat or one that requires alternative medical attention.
When to seek emergency medical care?
Sudden onsets of headaches which can reach its maximum intensity within 5 minutes is known as a “Thunderclap Headache”. This is a very localised headache to one spot and often feels like the “worst headache of your life”. In this matter, it is recommended that the headache sufferer refers themselves to A&E immediately to rule out any serious cause for the headache. If your current headache also presents with the following symptoms, you should also refer yourself to A&E:
Dysphagia: Difficulty swallowing
Dysarthria: Difficulty speaking
Diplopia: Double vision
Drop Attacks: Spontaneous falls from standing or walking
Dizziness: Sudden vertigo or light headedness
Ataxia of gait: Uncoordinated and abnormal walking movements
Nausea: Sudden feeling of sickness and possibly with vomiting
Nystagmus: Rapid unintentional movements of the eyes
Common Headaches which present to a chiropractor?
Cervicogenic headaches:
Cervicogenic headaches create pain on one side of your head or face and can stay in that position for hours to days at a time. They can be made worse by sudden neck movements, coughing/sneezing and often create a sensation of stiffness in the neck. Cervicogenic headaches are typically caused by issues with the joints, vertebrae and muscles of the neck. Poor posture where we assume prolonged positions often cause our head/neck to glide forward and our shoulders to roll inwards. This is what we call an “Upper Crossed Posture”. Similarly, cervicogenic headaches can be due to past or recent falls, sports injuries, whiplash or arthritis. All of which can affect the functioning of our nervous system due to compression of nerves in the neck.
Migraines:
A migraine is a moderate to severe headache that is often felt as a throbbing pain on one side of the head. However, research suggests the throbbing pain can be on both sides of the head and can worsen with movement or activity. Symptoms can include blurred vision, lightheadedness, sensitivity to light/noises, irritability, shoulder/neck stiffness, nausea and vomiting. Migraine attacks usually last from four hours to three days. Migraines have no definitive cause, but studies have found that abnormal changes to the nervous system, chemicals and blood vessels in the brain may have a direct effect. Vascular, chemical and neurological changes to the body can be often due to common triggers such as alcohol, caffeine, bright lights, stress, overuse of medication, hormonal changes, diet and dehydration. However, every individual is different, and triggers may vary.
Migraines with an aura will present with specific warning signs and sufferers often see flashing lights before an attack. Migraines without aura is the most common type; migraines occur without any warning signs and immediately induce a throbbing headache. Migraine aura without headaches is known as a silent headache. You may experience the symptoms of a migraine or aura, but you will not experience a headache.
Tension type headaches:
The most common types of headaches are known as tension type headaches. Sufferers often describe this as a tight band around their forehead. The pain can often range from mild, moderate or intense pain situated behind the eyes and around different areas of the head or neck. The biggest causative factor for tension type headaches is stress. Research suggests people who experience these headaches usually have an increased sensitivity to pain, overly meaning that tension type headaches can develop from a sensitized pain system (nervous system). Although the exact cause of tension type headaches is not fully understood, we do know that they can be triggered from poor posture, dehydration, lack of exercise, stress and anxiety. There are two types of tension type headaches. Episodic tension headaches and chronic tension headaches. Episodic headaches can last from 30 minutes to a week. These frequent episodes usually last 15 days a month for around 3 months. These may develop into chronic tension headaches. Chronic tension headaches can last hours and may be continuous. They are considered chronic if they occur for 15 or more days a month and last for at least 3 months.
How can a chiropractor help me?
Whether you suffer from cervicogenic, tension type or migraine headaches; we have all been at the point of reaching for the pain-relieving medication. Okay it eases the pain, but does it address the problem at root? At Core Wellness Centres we believe in cause and effect! We do not just want to patch up the symptom, we want to address the cause. Chiropractic care can not only help improve symptoms but can guide you towards management and prevention. Evidence suggests that chiropractic care including spinal manipulation (adjustment) can improve tension, cervicogenic and migraine headaches. The chiropractic adjustment focuses to improve acute and chronic neck pain which will overly help manage and reduce the number of headaches you experience.
Using specificity, chiropractors will adjust and improve the alignment of the spine to improve spinal function and lift any stressors being placed upon the nervous system. Regulating the function of the nervous system will help control elements of the Central, Peripheral and Autonomic nervous system and improve the functionality of every living cell in the body!
It does not stop at the adjustment!
Being holistic healthcare clinicians, we understand that headaches come from many different aspects of health. With this is mind, we will not only look at your spinal health, nervous system and alignment, but we will also help you find the root cause of your headaches. This involves understanding the triggers for headaches and modifying your daily lifestyle habits to accommodate for these triggers. As we have touched upon before, some common triggers of headache pain include stress, long hours at a computer or looking at a phone, different foods, your surroundings and a lack of physical activity. All of which can be adapted for better outcomes with your headaches.
Tension type headaches can be affiliated with remaining stationary in a position for prolonged periods of time. Typical office desk jobs can result in fixed positions looking at a computer or staring at a phone screen for hours at a time. This alone increases your chances of headaches. These sustained positions will irritate joints and muscles of the head, neck/upper back and affect the functioning of the nervous system. This inevitably leads to pain! Adaptations to posture and office habits where regular breaks from prolonged positions are taken can have an astounding effect on your headaches.
As you can see, lifestyle adaptation paired with chiropractic adjustments are powerful. Not only are we avoiding pain reliving medication, but we are also addressing the problem at the root cause. If you are suffering from persistent headache episodes, I encourage you to consider the natural, effective and longer lasting alternative to headaches. Chiropractic Care at Core Wellness Centres in Epsom!
Dr Rhys Newman