About one day per week, previous patient who has overcome their back pain comes to my office with a new symptom - a headache. Usually this patient has already been to the ER and/or their primary care physician, and been prescribed a pain medication with an anti-anxiety medication. It is surprising to me that the patient never considers chiropractic care, until they have become dissatisfied with their current treatment. It is surprising to them that I treat many patients with headaches. So here it is- Yes! chiropractic care can help headaches!
The chart above is a good start for figuring out what kind of headache you have. Although I can help the vast majority of headaches, I want to give patients a good idea of how much improvement to expect. In my experience, chiropractic care can help tension headaches the most. The "tension" can often be traced back to a problem in the neck. Poor posture, excessive computer work and texting leads to an excessively forward positioned head. Imagine holding a bowling ball up against your belly. This is not too difficult as it is close to your center on gravity. The more you bring the ball forward, the heavier it gets. This is exactly the same as holding your head out forward, as many of us do. And yes, the head weighs on average about as much as a bowling ball, about 10lbs. The muscles that hold the head up are under increased stress just to maintain an upright position. Also, because the head is forward, the muscles at the base of the skull have to pull even harder to keep your head level so you can look forward. Otherwise you would be looking downward.
Tension headaches also are greatly affected by stress levels. All sources will affect the body and pain: physical, emotional, psychological, etc. As a doctor I have no magic wand that I can waive to instantly remove stress. However, the best advice I can give is to consider meditation and breathing techniques. Excessive stress will often result in overuse of the accessory breathing muscles. These muscles are the "fight or flight" breathing muscles, that affect the neck, ribcage head and shoulders. Meditation can also improve sleep, another source of stress.
Next blog: Migraines
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