Chiropractic Care for Headaches

Headaches are a common ailment that can strike anytime, often without warning. Headaches are also extremely difficult to diagnose. There are many different forms of headaches such as:

• Migraines
• Cluster headaches
• Tension headaches
• Cervicogenic headaches

The most common type of headache people experience is tension-type headaches. On average, 70% of men and 90% of women will have suffered from tension-type headaches at least once in their life. While that single instance may seem high, it is interesting to note that 21% of men and 37% of women suffer from tension-type headaches regularly. The common belief is that headaches will naturally resolve on their own, which is most often true. Thankfully, Ultimate Health Clinic has suggestions to help reduce the frequency or prevent headaches altogether.

What Causes Headaches?

Since headaches can be caused by many different factors, remembering the symptoms of your headache is important. These symptoms will help your chiropractor determine why you are experiencing headaches. Depending on what is causing the headache, several treatments may prove beneficial. The majority of headaches are not a result of a serious medical condition, but some may signal the need for urgent medical care. A qualified chiropractor will be able to help identify what may or may not be causing your pain.

The most common cause of primary headaches is over activity and complications in pain-sensitive structures in the body. Areas that surround your brain, neck, nerves, skull, muscles, and joints can all contribute to headaches. In some cases, food or certain lifestyle choices can trigger headaches. Some additional causes of headaches are:

• poor sleeping habits
• lack of proper nutrition
• processed meat
• high amounts of stress
• bad posture
• alcohol and red wines

Pain in your head from bony structures or soft tissue in your neck can also cause headaches. These types of headaches are considered to be cervicogenic. This means they originate from the spine or surrounding structures. Any dysfunction of the spinal joints or irritation of the spinal joints can cause pain to be referred to the head, which will result in headaches. The best way to treat this pain is to treat the dysfunction of the joints to relieve the pain.

How a Chiropractor Can Help

A qualified chiropractor will be able to diagnose, assess, and treat most forms of headaches. There have also been studies that show that proper care from a chiropractor may help relieve tension and cervicogenic headaches. While not all headache types can be completely eliminated, the same studies show that the frequency and intensity of migraines can be reduced with proper treatment. Some common treatment options are:

• soft tissue therapy
• rehabilitation
• manual therapy
• lifestyle changes
• modalities

Headaches have triggers that can be anything from our list in the earlier section. About 5% of all headaches are warnings from your body of another physical problem or disease. The remaining percentages of headaches are the primary form such as cluster, migraine, or tension headaches. These main forms of headaches are not a result of another ailment and are an actual problem in themselves.

Most headaches can be traced directly to neck tension. With more people engaging in activities that leave them sedentary or in a single fixed position, the number of tension headaches has risen.

How We Can Help

No one should have to live their life in pain. Ultimate Health Clinic is dedicated to ensuring that you are free from the pain caused by headaches. If you are interested in setting up an chiropractic appointment for an evaluation, give us a call at (905) 251-0162 today.