Chiropractic Treatment for Headaches
There are many different types of headaches with different underlying causes. A headache may be a mild, dull ache or it could present as a severe sharp, nauseating pain. Chiropractors are trained how to assess what is the underlying cause of your headache and give you appropriate treatment and advice.
A common type of headache is called a CERVICOGENIC HEADACHE. Cervicogenic Headaches are due to pain referring into the head from the neck, due to shared nerve connections. Tight neck muscles and ligaments or stiff vertebral joint movement can lead to this type dull headache across the forehead and behind the eyes. Chiropractic can help reduce pain by releasing tight joints with gentle spinal manipulation, while tight muscles are relaxed with massage and home exercises.TENSION type Headaches are also related to tight muscles in the suboccipital area (behind the skull) and may be aggravated by poor posture and stress. Research shows that spinal manipulation – the primary form of care provided by doctors of chiropractic – may be an effective treatment option for tension headaches and headaches that originate in the neck.
A report released in 2001 by researchers at the Duke University Evidence-Based Practice Centre in Durham, NC, found that spinal manipulation resulted in almost immediate improvement for those headaches that originate in the neck, and had significantly fewer side effects and longer-lasting relief of tension-type headache than a commonly prescribed medication.
Also, a 1995 study in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics found that spinal manipulative therapy is an effective treatment for tension headaches. The study also found that those who ceased chiropractic treatment after four weeks experienced a sustained therapeutic benefit in contrast with those patients who received a commonly prescribed medication.
If you are suffering with headaches it is important to find out the underlying cause, as recent reports suggest that consistently relying on painkillers can make the headache worse. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) suggest that aas many as one in 50 people suffer continual headaches because of “medication overuse”.
If you would like a consultation to discover what is causing your headache, then contact Soonius Chiropractic today on 07855 822 538.