Headaches involve mild to severe pain in one or more parts of the head as well as the back of the neck. There are many different types of headache patterns and a variety of causes. While painful and annoying, the majority of headaches do not indicate a serious disorder and, in non-chronic cases, may be relieved by changes in lifestyle.
Chiropractors successfully help thousands of individuals everyday obtain safe, effective, long-term relief from their headaches. This is because most headaches have a spinal,muscular,or behavioural component which your Chiropractor has been trained to identify and treat.
Migraine with Aura (classic migraine)
- The sufferer is often female
- The migraine may start with visual symptoms-either a blind spot or flashing lights.
- The headache is usually one sided and feels like throbbing.
- The headache is often disabling and the sufferer feels they need to go to a quiet dark room.
- There is often nausea and vomiting
- There is emerging evidence that men who suffer migraine with aura may have increased cardiovascular risk factors.
Migraine without Aura (common migraine)
- The sufferer is often a young female complaining of a pulsatile unilateral headache that reoccurs and started off when she was a young adult.
- There are no visual symptoms.
- The headache is severe but the patient should be able to continue with everyday activities
- Associated nausea and vomiting may occur, with sometimes vomiting helping relieve the headache.
Cervicogenic
- Daily headaches
- Neck movement may be reduced with stiffness
- Neck pain may be present
Both types of migraine may respond to manipulation and a treatment trial of 4-5 sessions is worth pursuing. Other conservative options include biofeedback and acupuncture. As for the other causes of headaches a trial of 4-5 may offer relief, sometimes tight muscles around the neck may contribute to the headache so these are worth loosening off also.