Headaches can be a pain to deal with, but it's not just the act of having a difficult headache. The search for relief is often long and frustrating as well. There are many ways to treat headaches, but one of them is chiropractic care. Chiropractors are trained in neuromuscular medicine, including spinal manipulation and other techniques that help restore proper alignment in the spine so nerve function can return to normal.
Gate City Health at Greensboro, NC, specializes in providing headache relief through chiropractic treatment. Gate City Health is a one-stop-shop for all your holistic needs. With chiropractic care, we work to heal the body naturally so that you can enjoy an improved quality of life.
Understanding Headaches
Headaches are a broad term used to describe any pain or discomfort in your head, neck, face, or elsewhere on the body. Many things can cause headaches, and they usually go away quickly but may also worsen over time if not treated properly.
There are two main types of headaches - tension-type headaches and migraine. Tension-Type Headaches happen when muscles in the back of the neck tighten up for an extended period, putting pressure on nerves near the top of your spine that control movement and sensation in parts of your upper body like your shoulders, arms, and neck. Other causes of headaches may be a cold, sinus infection, eyestrain, too much caffeine, or alcohol consumption.
Migraine Headaches are more severe and usually involve intense throbbing pain that can last for hours on end. Migraine headaches often result from hormonal changes in females during menstruation with the menstrual cycle. Other causes include depression and certain prescription medications such as those used to treat seizures.
The most common headache-related cause is muscle tension, leading to spasms below your skull (cervical region). It can happen when you sit at a desk all day long without sitting up straight or bending your neck forward enough to cause muscle tension.
Tension Headaches are often related to stress, anxiety, or depression. They can also be the result of overusing your neck muscles due to poor posture while sitting in front of a computer all day long without taking any breaks from time to time.
The most common headache may not have anything to do with headaches and usually has more environmental factors. Thus, it is crucial to keep your environment clean, organized, well-ventilated, and equipped with proper lighting.
How Chiropractic Adjustment Brings Headache Relief?
A chiropractic adjustment is a form of spinal manipulation. In most cases, it involves the chiropractor applying pressure to specific points on your spine that are too tight or too inflexible. It helps decrease pain and strain in other parts of your body by freeing up those areas for better movement. The treatment also reduces tension headaches and migraines that often accompany this type of headache, bringing relief from headaches after just one session.
Research has found that spinal manipulation, one of the primary treatments provided by doctors of chiropractic, may be an effective treatment option for tension headaches and headaches originating in the neck. A 2014 report published in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics (JMPT) showed how interventions commonly used within chiropractic care improved acute and chronic neck pain outcomes with increased benefits shown where chiropractors had utilized a multimodal approach to treating head pain.
With targeted methodology, we align your spine to improve spinal function and alleviate stress on the nervous system. It allows your body to function more normally. It reduces the risk of headache pain from chronic tension in muscles or connective tissue due to long hours driving or working an office job.
Chiropractors are experts at alleviating pain and stopping migraines before starting with a combination of cervical spine adjustment and other techniques like cranial sacral therapy or spinal decompression. Cutting down the number of headaches and reducing their impact can improve migraine sufferers' quality of life by drastically cutting back on visits to a chiropractor for relief.
Your chiropractor can use several different treatments, including adjustments, exercises, and soft tissue release, to help with your issue. During these sessions, you will be positioned in specific ways on the table especially designed for this type of treatment. Popping and cracking sounds are normal as they move your joints during each session but don't worry. It should not hurt too much!
Visiting our chiropractors at Gate City Health ensures that chiropractic treatment brings headache relief. Most importantly, it also becomes a preventative measure so as soon as those stresses start building up again, they can be dealt with before any major problems arise.
The Benefits Of Chiropractic Adjustment For Headache Relief
As mentioned before, getting adjusted once can provide long-lasting effects with no more Headaches ever again (or at least not to the same severity). But there are even more benefits than just being able to find headache relief. The following benefits can happen after just one adjustment:
- Headache relief
- Long-term results
- Reduced head and neck pain
- Improved posture, balance, and joint mobility in the spine can prevent future injury.
- A stronger immune system as well as less anxiety or depression due to stress hormones being normalized. A stronger immune system also means a reduced risk of infection.
- The improved mood will help people better deal with their tough days at work/school.
Is Chiropractic Adjustment Safe? Yes, it is safe for all ages (even pregnant women!) Many studies support the safety of chiropractic care. An adjustment is entirely safe providing that a licensed chiropractor performs the procedure.
What are the risks with Chiropractic Care? The risks associated with chiropractic adjustment are very low. Even though there are only minor side effects, they can be prevented by following specific guidelines set out by your chiropractor and at home before any adjustments take place - so it's worth doing. Also, most side effects subside naturally.
The Approach of Gate City Health to Bring Headache Relief
Dr. Preston Dantoni always begins with a detailed medical assessment. It will help determine the underlying cause of a headache and how Dr. Dantoni can use chiropractic care to alleviate or eliminate it.
Suppose there is an injury that has caused any misalignment in your spine. In that case, Dr. Preston Dantoni may use spinal/cervical adjustments (manipulation) to bring relief from pain and provide better health for you and your family members too.
Suppose that an adjustment is not appropriate for the patient due to medical conditions and personal preferences. In that case, other chiropractic interventions provide the same results, such as:
- Nutritional Counselling: Helping the body to heal and recover. Some foods might trigger headaches. Seeking the appropriate nutrition from a qualified dietician can help in eliminating them.
- Exercise: Getting your body moving will increase circulation and promote blood flow to relieve headaches that come with neck tension.
- Heat/Cold Therapy: Using ice or heat on tense muscles helps alleviate pain, spasms, inflammation, which could be common reasons for headache relief and other injuries like whiplash.
- Massage: Massaging targeted areas releases muscle tightness and promotes healing through the better circulation of fluids in tissues. Headaches related to stress are eased by massage therapy treatments too.
- Posture Correction: Adjustments are not always necessary. Sometimes just a posture correction is all that's needed for recovery.
How to Prevent Headaches?
There are many ways that you can prevent headaches, including:
eating healthy food on a regular basis;
- Getting enough sleep each night;
- Wearing comfortable shoes when going for walks or exercising regularly;
- Having a good posture while sitting in front of the computer;
- Do not eat too many sweets which have a high sugar content or drink any alcohol;
- Be sure to get enough sleep regularly and use good posture while sitting in front of the computer. The less time you spend slumped over your desk, the better; and
- Drink plenty of water throughout each day since dehydration can cause headaches by interfering with blood flow through our bodies (which carries oxygen). Dehydration is one of the leading causes of headache pain.
If these preventative measures are taken care of, then it is doubtful that you will ever suffer from another headache again! If they still occur, an underlying issue such as allergies that should be addressed first before chiropractic adjustment can help bring headache relief.
Headaches can be caused by a variety of factors, including stress and tension in the neck. Chiropractic care is one way to get relief from these headaches. Have you ever been adjusted before? If not, what are you waiting for? You'll soon find out that our gentle adjustments will help relieve pressure and pain on your spine, allowing blood flow to return to normal levels again. You may also notice some other benefits like improvement in posture or relaxation when we adjust your spine. All patients must understand the risks associated with this treatment and ways they can prevent future episodes of headaches altogether.
Request an appointment with Gate City Health today!
References:
- https://www.healthline.com/health/headache#headache-vs-migraine
- Bryans R, Descarreaux M, Duranleau M, et al. Evidence based guidelines for the chiropractic treatment of adults with neck pain. J Manipulative Physiol Ther 2014; 37: 42-63.
- https://www.acatoday.org/Patients/Health-Wellness-Information/Headaches-and-Chiropractic#:~:text=Research%20shows%20that%20spinal%20manipulation,that%20originate%20in%20the%20neck.
- https://www.mcgowansrc.com/blog/how-chiropractors-can-help-relieve-headaches
- https://advancedhealthchiro.net/headaches-migraines-and-chiropractic-care/
- https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/chiropractic-adjustment/about/pac-20393513#:~:text=Chiropractic%20adjustment%20is%20safe%20when,of%20an%20existing%20disk%20herniation