5 Ways A Headache Chiropractor Can Help Manage Your Pain

You already know how unpleasant terrible headaches can be to your daily life if you suffer from them regularly. Headaches can prevent you from feeling like yourself, whether you have a slight, dull ache, a strong throbbing pain, or an agonizing tension headache over the neck and scalp.

While over-the-counter pain relievers might provide some brief relief from headache discomfort and debilitating pain, they won’t address the underlying issue that is really the source of your migraines.

This explains why so many people seek out chiropractic care from headache chiropractors.

Chiropractic adjustment is a noninvasive procedure that not only helps in managing headache pain but also in addressing the root of the problem. This encompasses a variety of pains, such as neck discomfort, migraines, and tension headaches.

Chiropractic adjustments might be the answer you’ve been looking for if you want to manage pain from headaches. Read below to find out more.

Different Types of Headaches

Tension, cervicogenic, and migraine headaches are the most prevalent forms of headaches.

According to the American Migraine Foundation, at least 39 million Americans live with migraine. Many people don’t get the diagnosis or the treatment that they need, so this number may be higher. 

Migraine headaches can affect anyone of any age, background, or physical ability. Symptoms may include pain on one side of the head and are frequently accompanied by sensitivity to sound and light and nausea.

Tension-type headaches, on the other hand, frequently present band-like tension around your head.

Cervicogenic headaches originate in the neck, but the pain is felt in one or more locations on the face and/or head. Although the exact causes of headaches are not always known, neck stiffness, stress, as well as a family history of headaches are major contributing factors.

What Causes Headaches?

There are various causes or “triggers” for headaches. These could consist of substances, stimuli from the environment (such as light, noise, stress, etc.), or actions (excessive exercise, insomnia, blood sugar changes, etc.). 

According to the American Chiropractic Association, approximately 5% of headaches are physical issue-related warning signs. The common types of headaches, such as tension, migraine, or cluster headaches make up the remaining 95%. The majority of primary headaches are caused by muscle tension in the neck. Americans spend more time inactive than ever before and spend more hours in one set posture or position (such as sitting in front of a computer). Your head may hurt as a result of increased upper back, neck, and scalp muscular tension and joint irritability.

Can a Chiropractor Help in Managing Headache Pain?

Headaches can be evaluated, diagnosed, and treated by chiropractors. According to multiple studies, chiropractic care, which includes manual therapy, can be successful in alleviating cervicogenic headaches and tension. This procedure can also help reduce the frequency and severity of migraines.

The following are some ways chiropractic care can help:

Chiropractic Adjustment

A headache chiropractor works on the spine to improve spinal function and reduce the load on your nervous system.

The human body is a self-regulating and self-healing mechanism. The Gonstead approach in chiropractic care uses hand-applied, precisely controlled force to address and realign the spine. Your body can start its own natural healing process and resume normal functioning as soon as the chiropractic adjustment is finished.

[Read: 7 Signs You Need Chiropractic Adjustment]

Lifestyle Modifications

Understanding your triggers is one of the many components of the holistic approach to headache treatment that our team advocates. To assist you in identifying the source of your headaches, your chiropractor will try to comprehend your particular circumstances.

The provider can assist you in making minor lifestyle modifications to fend off triggers when they find that particular environmental factors or food seem to cause your headaches.

Spending a lot of time in one position can frequently cause tension headaches. Your neck muscles can become tense from working at a computer or looking at your phone, leading to a “tech neck”, and increasing your risk of headaches.

Long periods in one place can aggravate joints and tense the muscles in your upper and lower back. It is highly recommended that you take a break every 30 minutes to an hour to move around, switch positions, and help prevent pain in addition to your prescribed chiropractic care plan.

Making the lifestyle changes required to prevent headaches will be simpler once you identify their underlying cause. Headaches can be less common by making easy adjustments such as drinking more water, modifying your diet, reducing stress, or getting enough sleep.

Overall, making changes to your way of life, along with chiropractic adjustments, will significantly reduce your persistent headache discomfort.

Modalities Involving Medical Practices

Of course, these headaches could also be brought on by more severe medical conditions. Your chiropractor will be able to identify whether there is anything more severe happening that could be causing your headaches after a thorough examination and a series of x-rays. The most crucial thing to keep in mind is that your chiropractor is available to relieve your pain and help you get back on the path to better health.

Health Advice

A chiropractor can offer advice on how to manage headache-related muscular tension and recurrent joint pain through exercise, posture, and relaxation techniques.

Rehabilitation

Without the use of medicine or surgery, chiropractors work with the body’s natural capacity to heal itself. The goal of rehabilitation, aside from joint adjustments and spinal manipulation targeted at specific problems, is to help you regain general body health.

Contact Cornerstone Family Chiropractic Today!

Headache pain must be treated seriously. If you commonly experience headaches, frequently take painkillers to treat them, see a change in your headache pattern, or notice that your headaches are getting worse, you may want to get chiropractic care after consulting your primary care physician. 

If your headache follows a head injury, is severe and sudden, and is accompanied by other symptoms such as chronic neck pain, a stiff neck, fever, numbness, weakness, or trouble speaking, you should get help immediately. Cornerstone Family Chiropractic can help whether you need help making lifestyle changes or spinal manipulation.

Get in touch with our providers today for a consultation!