Have you ever woke up with a dull headache and just knew it would escalate into a full-blown migraine headache by lunch? If you are a migraine sufferer, that scenario is all too real. The worst part is that the migraine pain can or will leave you debilitated for possibly hours or days.
Understanding Headaches
Very few people ever avoid getting a headache, and when it appears, it can manifest in many different ways. It may affect the whole head or just a part, and it may be felt as anything from a dull ache to a sharp stabbing. Unfortunately, headaches can last a few minutes or a few days and produce ill side effects such as nausea.
There are many reasons for headaches, including drug reactions, temporomandibular joint dysfunction (TMJ), tight neck muscles, low blood sugar, high blood pressure, stress, and fatigue, but most can fit into one of two categories: tension (cervicogenic) headaches and migraine headaches. A third less common category is cluster headaches, which are similar to migraines.
The Migraine Headache
Around 25 million people in the U.S. experience migraine headaches a year, 75% of whom are women. Migraines are characterized by intense pain and throbbing, often coupled with nausea and sensitivity to light or noise. Their duration may be a few hours to several days, and there is sometimes a precursory visual symptom known as an “aura” that alerts the sufferer to the coming attack. This aura may be experienced as spots of light like small flashes from a camera or present a dream-like appearance to the world.
Migraines tend to run in families, and sufferers usually have their first attack before they reach 30 years old. Apart from this, the experience varies, with some people having several attacks every month and others perhaps once a year. They may also become more or less severe as the sufferer gets older.
The process of a migraine headache is that the blood vessels in the brain first constrict and then dilate. The constriction decreases the blood flow, causing the visual symptoms many people experience. Even if an aura does not occur, most sufferers know when a migraine is nearing. When the blood vessels then dilate, the rapid increase in blood pressure is what leads to the pounding headache, which thumps in time to the heartbeat.
The exact reason the blood vessels constrict is not fully understood, although several common triggers have been identified. These include lack of sleep, stress, flickering lights, strong smells, a change of weather, and certain foods – the chief culprit being the amino acid tyramine.
There is some good news when it comes to headaches. There are safe and effective natural solutions available to help reduce or eliminate the symptoms of various headache types, including the most debilitating one – the migraine headache.
A Safe, Effective Natural Solution
Chiropractic care has been proven to help alleviate the symptoms of tension and migraine headaches by improving and restoring normal postural patterns.
Chiropractic treatment aims to normalize muscle tension, restore joint range of motion, and stabilize the body to reduce abnormal stressors. Optimizing postural control of the head and neck reduces the workload your muscles must apply just to keep your head up during the day. Proper spinal alignment and muscle control help give the body a fighting chance of avoiding a headache brought on by tension.
Headache sufferers also tend to breathe more from their chest and shoulders than from their diaphragm. This leads to repeated elevation of the shoulders and upper back muscles hundreds of times a day, leading to increased tension in the head and neck. Chiropractic restores function to the spine, ribs, and hips to maximize breathing, good postural control, and optimal function.
We Can Help!
If you suffer from headaches and are tired of taking pain-relieving medication day after day, our expert team looks forward to helping you regain the quality of life you desire—pain-free and medication-free.
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For Your Health,
Dr. Scott Van Dam