If you’ve never had a migraine, it can be difficult to explain how debilitating they can be. They’re not like a normal headache; while they often involve a throbbing or pulsing sensation in the head, as well as pain on one or both sides of the head, their effects are more extreme and more debilitating. Migraines can affect balance and often cause extreme sensitivity to light and sound, and for some people, they may cause nausea or vomiting, confusion, irritability, and other uncomfortable or downright painful symptoms. While some migraines may be mercifully brief, some migraine sufferers may be incapacitated for as long as 72 hours. Unfortunately, for many people, it’s just as difficult to manage the symptoms of migraines as it is to explain them. Thankfully, chiropractic care can dramatically help relieve the symptoms and side effects of migraines and can also help reduce their frequency and intensity by addressing the source of the problem itself.
Migraines are triggered by different things for different people. Some people experience migraines in connection with their hormonal cycle, while other people find that they have migraines that are triggered by hunger or dehydration, by certain food additives, or because of excessive physical activity. If you experience chronic migraines, first be sure to work with your doctor to rule out any greater medical concerns; once you have an otherwise clean bill of health, chiropractic treatments can help address the symptoms of migraine, regardless of the cause. Chiropractic adjustments of the spine, including the neck area, help to relieve pressure on your nerves that may arise from stress, muscular tension, and the misalignment of the spine. Relieving pressure with chiropractic adjustments can help reduce inflammation of the muscles and other soft tissue that rely on the spine for support and function; this, in turn, can help reduce the inflammation that contributes to migraines and may make symptoms worse.
Chiropractic adjustments use manual manipulation to uncover the root of problems with misalignment and inflammation in the body. These manual manipulations positively affect the nervous system, allowing it to respond better to pain, which leads to greater comfort and less tension. Hence, chiropractic treatment can reduce the stress that may help trigger migraines, while also relieving the physical discomfort that often accompanies them. Chiropractic care also improves sleep patterns, which in turn helps reduce stress and can contribute to greater overall health, including fewer or more mild migraines.
Chiropractic care helps stop the cycle of spinal misalignment and muscle tension that feed off one another and can lead to stress and physical discomfort, which can then cause a lack of sleep or an inability to relax. Any one of these factors may trigger a migraine, yet chiropractic care addresses all of them at once, with non-invasive manual manipulation. If you experience migraines, or any other type of tension headache, talk to your chiropractor about your symptoms and their triggers and work with them to devise a treatment plan. Together, you and your chiropractor can effectively reduce or even eliminate the debilitating effects of migraines.
