Headaches – Prevention better than cure – Be alert to
1. Blood sugar levels & dietary triggers
2. Eye strain; neck and sinus problems
3. Posture
4. Stress management
5. Irritants and pollutants
Read my seminar on Headaches http://ow.ly/6VIyM
What causes your headaches?
Six Ways To Boost Brain Power – Emily Anthes
Reference – Anthes, E. (2009). Six ways to boost brainpower. Scientific American Mind, 20(1), 56-63.
A collection of research articles are being posted on this site to aid in the understanding and support that is evident in chiropractic studies. Please visit the Chiropractic Research Articles page and peruse at your leisure.
How many visits do I need for relief?
The numbers of treatments needed for each person depends on such things as
A very general guide for people looking for some level of pain relief is about 6 – 12 visits over a month. If there is absolutely no change to a person’s level of pain or activity after a month and 12 visits, get a re-assessment or a second opinion.
Why do some chiropractors recommend more treatment than others?
The number of visits recommended vary because of the different outcomes being sought by the patient and the chiropractor.
Put simply: rapid pain-relief only may need only a few visits with a young, healthy spine.
Other than pain relief, there are other reasons for people to see a chiropractor and the number of visits will vary, based on what the desired result is.
An example of this may be a whiplash injury which has left a person with headaches and balance-problems and neck pain that has lasted some months. There will be more visits needed to restore movement, advise and demonstrate better movement patterns and restore full, pain-free movement.
Some chiropractors work to alter spinal curve changes, using x-ray as an analysis and guide for treatment planning.
These approaches often include in-office traction sessions and home posture, stretch and exercise rehabilitation. It could be thought of in the same way a specialist dentist uses braces or night-time splints to alter the bite and change facial muscle tone; Both approaches take time and frequent return visits.
It is important that the chiropractor explains the program planned and that the patient understands the options that are available.
How, exactly can stress lead to health problems?
To put it almost too simply, stress can “turn the volume up” on an underlying problem that you were probably just only coping with. An extra amount of stress can take you over the edge and cause a headache to come on, a neck to get stiff and sore, or a low back to spasm.
Long term studies, following thousands of people over many years are starting to uncover the reasons why some people seem to be able to cope with large amounts of stress and yet others fall ill. It has a lot to do with a person’s in-built or learned habits of responding favorably to a stress event or becoming overwhelmed by it.
One author, Martin Seligman, who was also head of the American Psychologists Association, in his book, “Authentic Happiness”, called these positive ways of coping “signature strengths”. They included things like; gratitude, a sense of humor, appreciation of art, altruism, to name a few. Seligman noted some 25 different strengths which he found people engaged to help them in building resilience to life’s stressful events.
It follows then that people who can build resilience to these stressful events, can actually thrive and grow during times that less-adaptable people succumb to pain and illness.
Other writers on the topic such as George Chrousos in his article “Stress and Disorders of the Stress System”, makes the point that our stress system is well adapted to keeping us alive during particularly challenging times like being wounded, dehydrated, starved, exhausted, threatened or exposed to disease. The problem is that our modern world usually does not physically stress us as much, but our mental and imagined world creates imagined scenes where we “act as if” and keep our body operating at hyper-alert levels for very long periods. The resultant illness reads like a checklist from our modern day ailments that seem to be on the increase:
The link between the stresses you are under tie in with the chiropractic way of thinking when it comes to the three causes of musculoskeletal issues:
Physical causes: Knocks, bumps, falls, poor posture, injuries
Chemical causes: Infections, excess alcohol, caffeine, certain reactive foods, nicotine.
Mental / Emotional causes: As we have said in past blogs: stress and tension can overwhelm the body’s adaptive system, creating pain syndromes and a reduced sense of well-being.
Chasing trigger points in Muscles
Long term problems can actually become part of a “vicious cycle” where tight muscles cause pain and then the pain keeps the muscles from relaxing.
Inside muscles we have “drainage channels” called the lymphatic system which remove the usual waste products that are created when a muscles works. Certain points in muscles can get engorged with waste like lactic acid and become painful.
Most practitioners have skills designed to reduce these trigger points, such as direct pressure, stretching, exercise changes and acupuncture. Home stretch exercises can greatly assist in settling and eventually clearing trigger points.
Chiropractors often have massage therapists working with them to settle long-running muscle imbalances.
What else do chiropractors do for headaches?
During the discussion and examination of a patient the chiropractor will find out how severe the headache feels, what type of pain it is (sharp, dull, throbbing, shooting, deep ache, burning etc) and how long a headache will last. The time of the day, week or month that a headache comes on can also help in determining the best way to treat it.
Hormone changes during the usual monthly cycle can be a headache trigger, as can certain processed food containing nitrates and certain preservatives. Alcohol and caffeine may help some headaches, yet make others feel worse. Dehydration is another cause to look out for.
A detailed headache diary can assist in finding some of these aggravating factors.
Stress is often linked to headaches, and a detailed review of recent stresses can help find causes there. A “schedule of recent experience” stress checklist is a good place to start to identify life event changes that could be significant.
Knowing when to refer for other test or treatments
If a trial of treatment makes no improvement or if other problems outside the scope of practice of a chiropractor are discovered, a patient is referred. Usually the patient’s medical practitioner is the next point/port of call with a note from the chiropractor outlining what has been done and what may be needed to be done next.
The chiropractor usually stays in touch to follow progress and provide further treatment and advice, if appropriate.
Chiropractors often co-manage with allied health practitioners such as dentists, optometrists, and physiotherapists as well as naturopaths and acupuncturists to get to the bottom of some complicated headache cases.
A detailed explanation of how chiropractic care works for headaches.
Tight spinal joints create pain by having pain nerves overstimulated. Tight muscles themselves are also pain-sensitive if they do not go through the normal relaxation phase that a muscle needs to do to release lactic acid and other breakdown products and take in new oxygen-rich blood. Upper neck joints, nerves and muscles, when irritated, refer pain to the neck, skull, jaw, face and side and top of head.
Chiropractic adjustments are precise manipulations directed at the exact locked or jammed segment. Often, there is a joint “click” or “pop” due to the release of a gas bubble within the joint fluid inside the joint space. This happens due to a sudden change in the pressure inside the joint from the precise, but quick, joint movement. The result is immediate relaxation of the micro-muscles crossing that particular joint, allowing better movement and pain relief. Other nerves around the joint send reflex messages to the brain which, in turn, releases small amounts of the brains natural pain-killing opiates (endorphins and enkephalins).
Other reflex effects of stimulating upper neck nerves and relaxing local muscles is a change in the amount of muscular work that the neck has to do to move. Balance can be improved, as the brains balance – feedback it gets from moving joints is restored.
As muscle-tension headaches are a known trigger of more severe migraine headaches, improvement in neck muscle tension and easier movement may result in a reduction in the number or severity of migraine headaches. Studies into chiropractic management of migraines have reported a 60% drop in the number and intensity of migraines.
For most headache presentations, a course of treatment of up to 12 visits over 6 weeks is a “treatment trial”, much in the same way as a medical practitioner prescribing a different drug…one tries that approach for long enough to give the input a chance to work.
Look out for my next blog on ‘What else chiropractors do for headaches?’
