The most important thing to remember is that headaches are an alarm bell... they do not occur in a 100% healthy human being... just as a smoke detector doesn't leap into action because there is absolutely no smoke in the air.
A headaches job (as with all pain sensation) is to let you know there is an issue that needs to be addressed.
In our experience, almost all headaches have a cervical spine (neck) dysfunction component.
Some people might find that hard to believe... ie that so many people have dysfunctional cervical spines, until you look at the activities we undertake daily. Human beings are essentially a really intelligent chimp.
Staring at iphones and computers all day and all night puts the neck in a position it is not use to, for a period of time it has rarely experienced in the past millennium of human development.
It stresses the soft tissue structures that support the cervical spine (muscles and ligaments), and creates inflammation in joints which irritate neurology within joint capsules.
A paper written by Harrison et al (Biomechanics of the central nervous system parts 1,2 and 3) demonstrated that a reversal of neck curve (which will often produce chronic headaches) stretches the spinal curve and reduces it's blood flow (thereby reducing nutrition to the spinal cord). The authors hypothesised that one neurodegenerative disease that may see an increase with an increase in reversed cervical curves could be Multiple Sclerosis.
Obviously there are some headaches that are more sinister in nature (brain cancers for instance can produce strong headaches), and require more advanced imaging, and our initial consult and testing processes are designed to pick these up, and refer for appropriate scans when required.
How can getting adjusted by a chiropractor reduce symptoms of Headache?
As chiropractors we are trained to locate and adjust subluxations (vertebral joints that have lost their normal position and/or motion within the spine, thus altering neurological function). By adjusting subluxations we help the body to restore normal movement of the vertebra within the spine, and normalise neurological function (taking the cause for the alarm away, or at least reducing the intensity of the alarm). In doing so many people experience a reduction in their headache intensity and/or frequency, or complete resolution of their headaches.
If you, or someone you care about is living a life half lived because of their headaches, I would urge you to have them assessed by a chiropractor.
If you let me know where you need one in the comments below, I am more than happy to find a good one in your local area.
Please check us out at valleyrising.com
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Regards,
Dr Dan Shakespeare (Chiropractor)
Valley Rising Chiropractic
6/24 Garnett Rd
East Maitland
NSW 2323
Australia