Treating Headaches and Migraines with Chiropractic Therapy
Headaches are frequently treated and prevented with chiropractic care. Spinal manipulation, active and passive exercises, and massage all involve this type of therapy. While chiropractic treatment is popular, its effectiveness for the majority of headache types is still widely unknown, and spinal manipulation may have unintended consequences.
Numerous studies on the use of chiropractic care for headaches are currently being conducted. Chiropractic care can help with cervicogenic headaches, migraines, and tension headaches. Read on to discover more about it.
Understanding Cervicogenic Discomfort
Cervicogenic discomfort involves a back-of-the-head pain that radiates to the front of the head, often accompanied by pain in the same-side shoulder or arm. Cervicogenic headaches are thought to be caused by a neck problem and can be caused by an injury.
Chiropractic Treatments for Cervicogenic Headaches
- Spinal Manipulation: This procedure applies a controlled force to one of the joints in your spine. The force may produce a popping sound.
Cervicogenic headaches are treated with spinal manipulation (upper part of the neck).
While the majority of side effects are minor and transient, there are some serious risks to upper spine manipulation that should be considered, such as stroke, disc herniation, nerve damage or compression, tearing of arteries.
- Joint Mobilization: This type of passive movement therapy improves mobility and pain relief. In order to relieve headaches, this treatment focuses on the cervical spine with the goal of stretching the deep neck flexor muscles.
Deep neck flexion exercises can be performed with the assistance of a healthcare professional.
This deep neck flexion exercise is performed by lying flat on the floor, doing chin tucks, and then nodding the head. Perform ten-second muscle contractions followed by ten-second rests for 15 repetitions.
Understanding Migraines
Migraines are characterized by severe headaches, nausea, and dizziness. Migraine medications that are effective for both prevention and treatment are available. Certain procedures, such as pain injections, have proven to be effective.
Misdiagnosing migraines as cervicogenic headaches is difficult due to frequent neck pain. Consult your doctor to determine the underlying causes and the best management strategy.
Chiropractic Treatments for Migraines
Neuromuscular massage targets trigger points in the back, shoulder, neck, and head to relax muscles, increase blood flow, and relieve stress. Symptoms may be alleviated by calming the nerves that transmit pain signals to the brain.
Physical therapy exercises, relaxation techniques, stress management, and dietary counseling are all part of this approach.
Understanding Tension Headaches
Tension headaches are extremely common. They are caused by muscle tension in the neck, shoulders, or head and are usually relieved by taking nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) or Tylenol (acetaminophen).
Chiropractic manipulation and treatment were ineffective in treating this type of headache. Chronic tension headaches may benefit from soft tissue therapy (e.g., trigger point therapy, stretching) and stress management.
Chiropractic Treatments for Tension Headaches
Craniocervical mobilization requires less force than spinal manipulation. This force is applied to the cervical joints to treat headaches. Stretching is commonly used in this intervention.
Conclusion
Cervicogenic discomfort, migraines, and tension headaches can be treated by a professional chiropractor. While migraine drugs work both to prevent and treat such pains, it might be more advisable to get the right chiropractic care to aid these problems. This way, patients need not rely on medicine and drugs to give them temporary relief.
Are you looking for the best chiropractic clinic in Walton? Triple Crown Chiropractic works to relieve your body pains and reach peak health using soft tissue and spinal treatments. Try our organic approaches today!