Headaches and Migraines

Headaches and Migraines

If you discovered our practice by searching the internet for “headache and migraine treatment near me,” you are not alone. Each year, approximately half of Americans will have at least one headache. Four percent of people worldwide spend 15 or more days each month in the grip of headache pain.

Migraines are a type of headache that can occur over several days. These headaches often occur with throbbing, stabbing pain on one side of the head. Many people with migraines also have pain behind the eye on the same side as the rest of their head pain. Some other migraine symptoms include:

Auras are visual disturbances that affect nearly 25% of migraine sufferers and may include blind spots or seeing stars, zigzag lines, or flashing lights. Since migraines can last from four to 72 hours, they account for $36 Billion in lost wages and healthcare costs each year for the one in four American households they affect.

Common Causes of Headaches and Migraines

There is a wide range of triggers that can cause headaches and migraines. Environmental issues such as changes in atmospheric pressure or inhaling pollutants can trigger headaches. High blood pressure, infections, and other health conditions can also cause headaches. Depression, anxiety, and stress cause and worsen migraines and headaches. Fasting, loud music, and bright lights can lead to migraines in some individuals.

Although these are causes that many of our patients know about when they first come to see us at West Suburban Wellness, they are not the main ones we see. Injuries, spinal dysfunction, and muscular issues cause the bulk of headaches we treat. Fortunately, our headache and migraine chiropractors can treat these underlying causes through direct headache chiropractic treatment and prescribed lifestyle interventions. Whiplash, tension, stress, and sinus issues are also frequently responsible for headaches our chiropractors treat.

Whiplash Headaches

Whiplash is often overlooked as a cause of migraine or headache pain. Whiplash headaches usually cause pain at the skull base that gets worse when the neck is moved. A whiplash headache can be excruciatingly painful since both the head and neck are involved. The violent forward and backward movement that occurs during car accidents is responsible for this type of headache.

Tension Headaches

Tension headaches are caused by heightened muscular tension in the back of the head and the neck. Patients with tension headaches complain of a tightening sensation, like giant rubber bands squeezing around their heads. Frequently, we see underlying muscular imbalances and spinal misalignments accompany these headaches. These underlying issues cause tension headaches and intensify the pain they cause.

How Chiropractic Works to Alleviate Headaches and Migraines

At West Suburban Wellness, we offer chiropractic for headaches and migraines that relieves our patients’ pain without over-the-counter drugs or potentially addictive prescription medications. Treatments are gentle, non-invasive, and help our patients feel their best.

We also work hard to help our patients fit healthy lifestyle interventions such as exercise in their daily routines. We know that our headache treatment is only as effective as much as its lifestyle interventions are consistently practiced. Therefore, we always consider our patients’ preferences and daily lives when designing their treatment programs.

How Our Headache & Migraine Chiropractors Can Help

Headache and migraine chiropractic treatment have several benefits for our patients. Some of them are:

Our chiropractors for headaches and migraines perform a detailed physical assessment and consultation when we first see someone in our office. If we spot any issues requiring testing not performed in our offer, we’ll refer them to diagnostic imaging professionals for an x-ray, MRI, or other necessary scans. We’re interested in helping our patients achieve the best help and are glad to partner with other medical professionals in our community.

Chiropractic Adjustment

Chiropractic adjustment, also called spinal manipulation, is a foundational therapy in chiropractic care. This treatment focuses on achieving proper spinal alignment. Spinal alignment is essential to good health because the spine houses the spinal cord’s nerves. When these nerves are free of compression, they can adequately carry signals to and from the brain.

Some of our patients wonder how treating something in the back can help with headache pain. The answer is simply that the nerves are all interconnected. When nerves can’t communicate freely due to spinal misalignment, the brain can’t process pain signals properly, leading to more pain. Some other areas that spinal misalignment, also called spinal subluxation affects include circulation, breathing, and digestion. Since headaches have such a range of causes, correcting spinal subluxation can address many of them at once.

At West Suburban Wellness, our headache and migraine treatment focus on the top three vertebrae in the spinal column. These are closest to the skull and are common culprits for migraine pain when they are out of alignment. Since we have a holistic philosophy, we work with patients to uncover other causes of migraines or assess other areas to help them achieve the best health possible.

Massage Therapy

Massage therapy is a popular treatment for relieving headache-inducing muscular tension. Sitting at a desk with hunched shoulders and necks pushed forward is how many people spend their working days. At West Suburban Wellness, we find massage therapy enhances circulation and provides soothing relief for tired, achy muscles.

Sinus headaches respond well to massage therapy. Our chiropractors prescribe this therapy to gently drain the sinuses and decrease the pressure in our office. When combined with sinus headache chiropractic treatment, pain leaves as the sinuses drain and heal.

Preventive and Restorative Exercise

West Suburban Wellness is as dedicated to prevention as much as we are to restoration. As a result, we prescribe custom therapeutic exercises to help our patients relieve pain and prevent recurrences. Due to our society’s fixation with smartphones, computers, and other screens, we see many patients with forwarding head posture.

The head was designed to line up with the shoulders directly. When we spend large amounts of time looking down at screens, our necks become stiff and strained. This increased muscular strain can intensify or even cause headaches.

Our chiropractors analyze each patient’s postural and movement patterns. Then we create a customized movement program containing posture corrective and preventive exercises. Our goal here at West Suburban Wellness is to help our patients feel fantastic and enjoy excellent health.