Chiropractic Care for Headaches
Most people experience headache at some point in their lives. Headaches can range from mild to severe and can vary in duration and occurrence. They can affect different areas of the head and can be accompanied by nausea, reactivity to sound or light and other symptoms.
The location and type of pain can help an healthcare practitioner identify what type of headache a patient is experiencing. The most common type is tension headache, which is correlated with physical or emotional stress and back or neck strain (caused by posture for instance). Cervicogenic headaches are also common and are related to neck conditions such as disc problems, degenerative conditions like osteoarthritis, whiplash injuries or neck muscles imbalance. Cervicogenic headaches may be accompanied by pain around the eyes, a stiff neck and sometimes blurry vision, noise and light sensitivity.
Migraines are a different class of headaches. The cause of migraine headaches is complicated and not fully understood. Some factors that appear to be involved in the development of migraines are hormonal health, vascular health, blood sugar regulation, reactivity to foods or smells, consumption of caffeine and other stimulants and emotional stress. Migraines are characterized by headache accompanied by other symptoms such as irritability or depression, nausea, fatigue, sensitivity to light and sounds, muscle stiffness, visual disturbances, speech changes and problems concentrating.
According to the American Chiropractic Association, spinal manipulation can be an effective headache treatment for many sufferers. Chiropractic adjustments can help improve spinal function and decrease muscle tension, which in turn can reduce stress from building up around the neck and head. Furthermore, the team at Renovo Health & Wellness can help improve patient’s posture by ergonomics training and corrective exercises and decrease inflammation through specific, personalized nutritional strategies. By identifying and removing environmental triggers, our team can help make lifestyle changes to avoid the insurgence of symptoms.
Overall, lifestyle tweaks paired with chiropractic adjustments can make a big difference to help relieve chronic headaches.