Headaches & Migraines

Headaches are experienced a little bit differently by everyone. You may feel tired, have blurred vision, a stiff neck, or feel as if you’re unable to function for the day. But they do all have one thing in common – they are not “normal” to deal with frequently.

Headaches result in over 157 million days per year lost from work with a societal cost of over $50 billion. The use of drugs to manage these headaches have shown to be temporary at best and toxic to the body with prolonged and overuse. 

Types of Headaches:

• Tension Headaches
• Migraine Headaches
• Cluster Headaches
• Sinus/Allergy Headaches

Tension headaches are the most common type of headache accounting for almost 90% of all headaches.  Epidemiological studies report that 5% of all adults suffer from headaches on a daily basis, and approximately 7 million adults report suffering from headaches every other day. 

Migraine headaches are intense pulsing and throbbing pain usually on one side of the head.  Migraines can last several days and are accompanied by nausea and vomiting. Migraines are three times more likely in women than men.  People with migraines are often sensitive to light and sound.  

Cluster headaches are three times more common in men and often come in a series. Each headache can last fifteen minutes to three hours and it is not uncommon to have three to four a day. They often occur behind one eye or on one side of the face.

Sinus headaches occur in the front of the head and face often over the sinuses. They can be due to a sinus infection or chronic rhinitis from allergies.

How we help you with your headaches

The first step in helping you with your headaches is to properly figure out what the problem is. 

To do this we do the following:

• We ask you detailed questions about your current complaint
• We ask questions about your current lifestyle and what you are asking your body to do
• We do a Functional Movement Assessment to see how your spine is moving and what areas may not be functioning properly.
• If indicated we will take X-Rays of your spine to check for alignment, arthritis or other complicating factors.

The main goal of chiropractic care in our office is to restore normal movement to your spinal joints.  

Once we know where the problem is we improve your spinal motion in several ways including:

• Spinal Adjustments using the safest most advanced instruments.  Chiropractic adjustments work on the specific joints of your spine that are “stuck” or restricted. This begins the process of improving your range of motion and often provides quick relief from pain.
• Soft tissue mobilization to reduce muscle spasm that are restricting movement. Often we use an instrument called a percussor that creates a deep vibration to the muscle releasing adhesions and improving circulation through the muscle. 
• Specific exercises designed to restore normal movement patterns.
• Specific stretches to reduce muscle tension in the fixated regions.
• Education on proper ergonomics to ensure you don’t keep doing the same damaging things to your spine over and over.