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Chiropractic Manipulation and Headaches

Chiropractic Manipulation and HeadachesHeadaches are one of the most common complaints among patients who come for professional care, including chiropractic management. In Newport Richey, chiropractors conduct manipulation or adjustments on cervical spine and upper back, and this has made patients to seek chiropractic care as they find these procedures highly effective as far as reducing the frequency, duration, and intensity of their headache pain is concerned. The cervical spine or neck is always the origin of the headache given that it has three nerves in the upper neck (C1, 2 and 3), which pass through the thick, overly taught neck muscles en route to the head/scalp. When the neck muscles are in spasm, the overly tight muscles pinch or squeeze the nerves, and this leads to headache pain. Each nerve moves to a different part of the head; hence, pain may be described as radiating over the top of head (sometimes into the eyes and forehead), or into the head and over the ear, sometimes reaching the temple. Pain may also be reported in the back and side of the head, as C1 nerve innervates this area. The entire side of the top of the head may be involved when more than one C1 – 3 nerves is pinched.

According to a study in October 2009 issue of the Spine Journal, there are benefits when the spinal manipulation is used to treat chronic cervicogenic headaches. Headache referred to as chronic means that particular one, which has taken at least 3 months of constant pain. This new study made a comparison between the two different doses of therapy, and it used many outcome measures such as the amount of medication used, the number of headaches in the last 4 weeks, and the pain grade. Data was collected every 4 weeks for a 24-week period and patients were treated 1 to 2 times every week and separated into either an 8- or a 16-treatment session with half the group receiving either a minimal LM (light massage) or spinal manipulative therapy as a control treatment. The outcome of the study showed that spinal manipulation group got more admirable results than the control group at all-time intervals. The group that received a higher number of treatments had a small advantage with the average number of cervicogenic headaches minimized by 50-percent in both headache frequency and pain intensity.

This study is highly important given the many side effects to medications frequently used to treat headaches. More than a few patients in Newport Richey don’t take medications because of this reason and thus, SMT (Spinal Manipulation Therapy) is the perfect option for them. Combine SMT with lifestyle modifications, dietary management, and a natural, vitamin/herbal anti-inflammatory (like boswellia, turmeric, and ginger) when required and a natural, holistic approach to the chronic headache management is accomplished.

Chiropractors use drug-free approaches to treat patients not just in Newport Richey but also in the entire world. There medications have no side effects, and is recommended for all patients with chronic cervicogenic headaches. They identify the cause of the problem, and unlike other medications, they treat it from the roots rather than the top.

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