You’ll be forgiven for thinking that we as chiropractors only help people with back problems, day after day. You may be surprised to learn that many patients come to us suffering from chronic headaches or migraines, and we’re happy to tell you that we can help with this common condition.

Today we’re talking about the link between our spine and headaches, and how visiting a chiropractor might just be the relief you’ve been searching for.

Headaches

Headaches are a common complaint for many, and most of us will experience a headache at some point in our lives. The World Health Organization tells us that more than half of the world’s adult population has experienced a headache in the last year and that the most common headache is a tension headache.

However, for some, headaches are a bigger deal. People who suffer from chronic headaches will experience a headache 15 or more times a month. Those with cluster headaches will have pain in cycles that can last hours or days. Over 28 million Americans suffer from migraine, a debilitating type of headache that comes with throbbing pain and sometimes nausea.

Cervical vertebrae

So what’s the link between our spine and a headache? Well, those bones in your neck, known as cervical vertebrae, are small but really important. In fact, if they become misaligned they can cause problems that lead to headaches.

Chiropractors refer to misalignments in the spine as subluxations. Subluxations occur when the spinal vertebrae come out of alignment, causing pressure on your nervous system. A subluxation can cause pain, muscle tension, and poor performance of your body’s functions. Tense muscles can pull vertebrae out of their proper alignment, which will interrupt and interfere with nerve messages or impulses that travel between the neck and the brain. This cervical misalignment can irritate the nerves and cause mild constriction in the blood vessels carrying blood to the brain, which leads to headaches.

What causes misalignments that lead to headaches?

The simple answer to this question is Stress.

1. Physical Stress in the form of:

    • Trauma or injury, perhaps from a car crash

    • Poor sleep habits

2. Chemical Stress due to:

    • The food that you eat (both quality and quantity)
    • Alcohol
    • Drugs (Caffeine etc.)

3. Emotional Stress and anxiety.

If a spinal misalignment is responsible for your headaches, these can gradually become more frequent and even debilitating.

Can a chiropractor help with headaches?

Absolutely, we can help.

Chiropractors can assess, diagnose, manage, and eliminate the cause of your headaches. Chiropractic treatment has been clinically proven to have a significant impact on reducing the frequency, duration, and intensity of headaches, offering relief to these spinal triggers.

Research shows that chiropractic patients were more likely to have a 50% reduction in headache frequency and at least a 50% decrease in overall symptoms. (Spine Journal 2010.)

While many take pain medication to relieve a headache, it only masks the pain, rather than addressing the root cause of the pain in the first place and then correcting it. The relief for headaches that a chiropractor offers can be achieved without the risk of side effects associated with most medicines. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) stated that taking too many painkillers for headaches can sensitize the brain to pain, leaving the patient prone to more headaches.

Healing hands at the ready

Could spinal misalignment be the cause of your headaches? Let’s find out. We will perform a complete orthopedic, neurological, and chiropractic examination including a surface EMG which will assess the function of your nervous system, and digital X-rays if indicated by the examination to better understand what’s going on with your spine.

Next, we will put together a treatment plan, which may include cervical adjustments, that will allow you to experience the maximum benefit of chiropractic care, in a minimal period of time.

Book a visit to determine if your headaches or migraines are caused by misalignments, and we can make a treatment plan to get you feeling back to your old self again.

Dr. Albert E Andrion, Dr. Doug Reitz, and all of the team here at Suncoast Chiropractic Clinic are dedicated to helping you to feel your best. We believe that frequent headaches are not something you should have to live with. Finding relief starts here, and we are ready.