subject: Geneva Chiropractor Discusses Headaches, Finding and Fixing the Cause. Part 2 of 2 [print this page] Geneva Chiropractor Discusses Headaches, Finding and Fixing the Cause. Part 2 of 2
In our last article we discussed how many people believe that headaches are normal. So the first thing I need to do is dispel this myth. Headaches, whether they be Migraine, Tension or Cluster are fairly common but they are not normal. Something causes this pain in the head and it is not stress. Stressors or triggers, like chocolate, bright lights or noise, red wine, etc.... may act as a trigger to bring on the headaches but they are not the cause. Something in your body is causing an abnormal reaction to these external stimuli that results in headache pain.
For many individuals, the cause of their headache pain is a subluxation or pinched nerve in the neck. This can cause decreased nerve flow to the blood vessels of the head resulting in a Migraine type headache. Or it may cause increased tension in the muscles of the head, neck and face resulting in a tension type headache. In other instances it can cause abnormal messages to the sinus area resulting in sinus type headaches. In each of the examples above it is fairly common for a person to have subluxations that result in nerve irritation which puts our body in a state of hyperirritability. In fact, these subluxations often result in abnormal posture of the neck, like a straightening or reversal of the normal neck curve. Because our head weighs 10-15 pounds the body was designed for it to sit right over the shoulders. When their is an alteration of head position, due to a reduction or reversal of the neck curve, this places increased stress on the muscles and other tissues of the neck leading to the hyperirritability described above. Then an external stimulus like stress, chocolate, red wine, creates some irritation to an already hyperirritable area and ends up triggering a symptom like a headache. The triggers are basically the straw that broke the camels back and not really the cause of the problem.
Chiropractors are doctors trained to detect and correct subluxations, or misalignments of the spine that can result in headaches, neck pain, lower back pain, etc.... In fact, you do not have to be having a headache or neck pain for a doctor of chiropractic to determine whether or not there is a problem in your neck that could be causing your chronic headaches. An examination with the hands, orthopedic and neurologic tests, and often an x-ray can determine which bones of the neck are out of alignment and might be causing the head pain.
Then by readjusting the misaligned bones, chiropractors take pressure off the nerves in the neck and allow your body to work more normally. These adjustments help restore normal position and motion to the spine in addition to taking pressure off the surrounding nerves. They can also help to improve head position or posture. The result of these corrections is that it makes the body less susceptible to external stressors that previously led to headaches. As this occurs, patients often experience less headaches and are able to tolerate more stress or triggers without getting a headache.
Because it is ligaments that hold these bones in place, and they have been stretched allowing the bone to move out of placeor subluxate, it takes some time for them to heal. The idea is you want them to heal with the bone in the best position and moving properly. It is for this reason that adjustments are initially repeated close together. Depending on how long you have had the problem and what level of degeneration may be present in your spine will determine how often and how long you need to be adjusted. However, many patients can expect to notice some headache pain relief within the first week or two of care.
If your car's engine light went on, would you put a piece of tape over it and keep driving? Of course not, but realize by taking medication to cover up your head pain you are merely treating the symptom rather than addressing the cause of the headaches. This is really no different than covering up the warning light in your car.
So if you have headaches, consider getting your spine checked to see if a cervical subluxation is the cause of your headaches.
