The Link: Headaches and Chiropractic

The vast majority of people will suffer from headaches at some point in their lives. For many, their first instinct is to go pop a few aspirin to relieve the pain, but for chronic headaches, repeated drug use is very unhealthy. Luckily, there’s a way to save your liver AND relieve the pain — chiropractic care.

Depending on the type of headache, multiple causes could be at large: sedentary lifestyle, stress, lack of exercise, vitamin deficiencies, vertebrae unable to support the head, and especially muscle tension in the neck are all some of the main ones. Cervicogenic (aka tension) headaches are the most treatable with chiropractic, since they’re most commonly caused by misalignments in the neck.

A chiropractor will begin with an initial examination, determining the causes of your headaches and finding their source. If, indeed, they are being caused by subluxations (misalignments of the vertebrae), they will design a treatment plan that’s tailored to your needs.

Typically, they’ll give nutritional advice, recommending some dietary tweaks and possible natural vitamin supplements. Additionally, they’ll do some massage therapy and spinal manipulation to help relieve joint pain, stress and tension within the upper back and neck muscles. Your chiropractor will also assign stretches and posture exercises for you to practice — muscle strengthening takes consistency and isn’t only limited to your appointments! Much like anything else, practice makes perfect.

​Not only will this treatment help relieve pain, it will also prevent future pain and headaches by strengthening and retraining your muscles. Every patient is different, so relief can either be immediate or it may gradually get better over the course of a few days. I specialize in many different areas of chiropractic care and shun the “one size fits all” approach — I take care to customize a regimen to work most effectively for you. If you’re sick of chronic headaches and don’t want to pop more pills, schedule an initial consultation today.