Headaches

Causes & Treatment: Headaches

The most common cause of headaches can relate to neck complications. From spending excessive time looking down at a laptop, desktop, iPad, and even from constant texting, an incorrect posture for extended periods of time can begin to place pressure on the neck and upper back, leading to problems that could cause headaches. The majority of these types of headaches occur due to tightness between the shoulder blades, which causes the muscles on the top of the shoulders to tighten and radiate pain into the head.

If the source of the headaches is related to a complication of the cervical spine or another region of the spine and muscles, chiropractic care, such as chiropractic adjustments, manual manipulation, and physical therapy, can be a good treatment option. Also, a chiropractor may often follow up chiropractic treatment with a series of exercises to improve posture and offer advice for future lifestyle improvements to avoid further complications.

Headaches: Types

There are three main types: tension headaches, clusters, and migraines.

Many structures changes, and sense pain, particularly tension in muscles. However, the brain itself has no pain, and also you have a headache as the surrounding tissues report their discomfort.

Tension headaches result from straining muscles that cover your skull or your face or neck muscles. They might also occur when the blood vessels circulate in your mind, face, and open. Exercise, stress, and medication are a few things that could make your blood vessels open and provide you with a short-term tension headache.

Headache pain from tension headaches comes on gradually, and after that, it clears up in several hours. Just in case your tension headaches are severe or occur, you should see your doctor. Most headaches are just a part of life and have no cause for concern.

Should you experience a cluster headache, the pain will certainly occur, and that’s sharp concentration behind one eye. Headache experts attribute these headaches that are sudden and problems using a part of your brain called the hypothalamus.

Migraines: Symptoms

More than 60 million American adults report experiencing a migraine, and they affect women at a rate 3 times higher than men.1 Most people with migraines experience their first migraine as an adult, but children and teenagers can fall victim to them, too.

A pounding, deep or pulsating throbbing, aching headache, nausea, and pain immobilizing pain are the main symptoms of migraine headaches. Other common symptoms may include:

• One-sided blind spots and blurred vision
• Sensitivity to light, noise, or odors
• Fatigue and confusion
• Feeling sweaty or cold
• A stiff or tender neck
• Light-headedness

About 20% of people with migraines experience an aura lasting 15 to 20 minutes before the onset of the actual migraine.1,2 The most common aura is visual, where people experience blind spots, flashing lights, and glowing zigzagging forms. Auras involve other senses, such as example a tingling feeling or numbness. They confuse the migraine victim and may affect speech.

Causes: Migraines

Medical experts aren’t sure what causes migraines. Shifting levels of serotonin together with other chemicals in the brain may provoke migraines. Still, brain scientists and neurologists admit that people have a great deal to learn before completely understanding the cause.

The list below covers a selection of migraine causes; learn more about what causes migraines in our detailed migraine and headache causes article.

You will discover several migraine triggers. And meaning you should consider avoiding food that can often trigger migraines:

• alcoholic beverages
• caffeine
• legumes, pea pods, lentils, beans, nuts, and peanut butter
• pickled and fermented foods such as pickles, soy sauce, sauerkraut, and olives
• Bologna, ham, herring, hot dogs, pepperoni, sausage, and aged or cured meat
• meat tenderizer, seasoned salt, bouillon cubes, and monosodium glutamate (MSG)
• buttermilk, sour cream, and other cultured dairies
• aged cheese
• the artificial sweetener aspartame
• avocados
• onions
• passion fruit and papaya
• coffee cake, donuts, sourdough bread, and other items containing brewer’s yeast or fresh
• chocolate, cocoa, and carob
• figs plumbs that are red, and raisins

Other common migraine triggers include:

• fumes and strong odors
• stress
• bright lights
• loud noises
• fatigue
• depression
• weather changes
• poor sleep
• interruptions, for example, missing a meal, in your diet
• certain medications
• hormonal changes
• smoking
• exercise, sex, and other intense activities

If you live with migraine headaches, avoiding triggers may help you reduce the number of episodes you will need to endure.

As an individual suffering from headaches and migraines, you are not alone. A large percentage of people often describe feeling symptoms associated with some form of head pain. While some might be occasional and dull and others may be more frequent and throbbing, headaches or migraine pain can be debilitating, especially depending on the type of injury or condition causing the symptoms. There are various ways to treat head pain, but prevention can be one of the best ways to prevent headaches and migraines.

Preventing Migraines: Chiropractic

Headaches and migraines can be treated in various ways according to the type of injury or condition that caused the head pain. Chiropractic adjustments can greatly improve head pain symptoms, but chiropractic care can also be used to help prevent headaches. Because most headaches or migraines are caused by spinal complications or muscle tightness, chiropractic treatment can help avoid the symptoms in the first place.

Cervicogenic Headaches:

A cervicogenic headache begins in the cervical spine or the neck. Sometimes these headaches mimic migraine headache symptoms. Initially, discomfort may start intermittently, spread to one side (unilateral) of the individual head, and become nearly continuous.

 

Furthermore, pain can be exacerbated by neck movements or a particular neck place (e.g., eyes centered on a pc monitor).

The trigger of a headache is often associated with extreme tension in the neck. The headache may be a consequence of cervical osteoarthritis, a broken disc, or whiplash-type movements that irritates or compresses a cervical nerve. The neck’s bony structures (e.g., aspect joints) and its delicate tissues (e.g., muscles) can give rise to the improvement of a cervicogenic headache.

Cervicogenic Symptoms

A cervicogenic headache provides in base and the back of the skull as a steady, non-throbbing pain, sometimes extending downward into the neck and between the shoulder blades. Pain could be felt behind the forehead and the brow, although the problem originates in the cervical spine.

The pain usually starts after sudden neck movements, such as a sneeze. Along with head and neck discomfort, signs may include:

• Stiff neck
• Nausea and/or vomiting
• Dizziness
• Vision
• Sensitivity to light or sound
• Pain in both arms or one

Risk facets that will be engaged in headache onset or irritate cervicogenic headaches include:

• Fatigue
• Sleep difficulties
• Disc problems
• Current or neck injuries that are preceding
• Poor posture
• Muscular stress

Cervicogenic Headaches: Diagnosis

The analysis of a headache commences using a thorough medical background using a physical and neurological evaluation. Diagnostic testing may include:

• X-rays
• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
• CT Scans (rarely)
• Nerve block injections to validate the diagnosis, cause

Treatment: Cervicogenic Headaches

Initially, your doctor may advise an over-the-counter nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (e.g., aspirin, Aleve). If this is ineffective, then a prescription anti-irritation and pain reliever might be prescribed. Other treatment options, outlined in purchase of from non-invasive to invasive, include:

• Spinal manipulation or alternative manual therapies
• Behavioral methods (e.g., biofeedback)
• Acupuncture
• Trigger level injections
• Prolotherapy
• Facet joint blocks (a type of spinal joint injection)
• Nerve blocks (this is generally of the medial branches of the nerves that provide you with the facet joints)
• Radiofrequency pulse ganglionotomy of the nerve root (e.g., C 2, C-3)
• Spine surgery to reduce nerve or vascular compression (this is rarely necessary)

Tension Headaches:

The most common reason for tension headaches is muscle tension and tightness. According to reports of many individuals, the frequent tightness that occurs during a headache can be experienced all over the head and neck, feeling almost as though there is a rubber band around the head. The tension and tightening of the muscles are largely due to poor posture where the muscles are trying to adapt to the constraints placed on them. Poor posture over time leads to shortening of the muscles and irritation of the structures surrounding the spine, particularly the spinal discs. This specific shortening of the tissues causes the rubber band feeling on the head or tension headaches. Most often, this form of pain and discomfort is felt at the base of the skull. The longer the individual sits in an improper position, the longer the tension and tightness of the muscles will last and worsen, causing longer lasting and worse headaches.

The difficulty with improper postures is that they are mostly involuntary in their movements. If you are an individual who stresses frequently, it’s not uncommon for the shoulders to rise to their ears. The person may not even realize they’re practicing this posture until they take a deep breath and relax, an action many take longer to realize. The shoulders may have been up for most of the day, meaning the muscles were being overworked in an inappropriate position, and chances are the individual won’t correct their posture until the headache has started.

When working an office job, there are many culprits which can often cause improper postures. One regular activity that causes the shoulders to rise is talking on the phone, whether through a cell phone or a desk phone. Other individuals outright hold the phone with their shoulders. This action can cause an even stronger contraction, leading to more intense pain. In other situations, desk height and monitor height may also contribute to an individual’s pain and discomfort. A too high desk often forces the individual to raise their arms, therefore causing shoulder elevation. A monitor set too low, together with sitting in an unsupportive chair, promotes forward head posture. Even carrying large bags causes the body to slump forward. Ensuring that your desk is set up correctly can help decrease your risk of developing this type of tension headache.

Exercises For Posture

Muscles need blood flow for them to function properly and not experience tension and tightness. Simply standing at your desk for even a minute can allow blood flow to increase, which may save you from feeling head pain. One method you can use to remember to give yourself time to stretch and correct your posture is to set up a timer on your phone or computer. For every 15 or 30 minutes the timer goes off, the individual should correct the posture of their shoulders if they are being held up to their ears and slumping on their chair. Ultimately, every time the alarm goes off, individuals should use this as a healthy reminder to stand up and allow the muscles to reset.

Whiplash Headaches After Auto Accident

A headache is a symptom of pain felt in any region of the head or neck. From mild and irritating discomfort to severe and throbbing pain, headaches can be caused by various factors. They may occur temporarily, or they can last throughout the day. In most cases, individuals report headaches and other similar symptoms after being involved in an automobile accident, most commonly if they’ve been diagnosed with whiplash.

Any auto collision can lead to whiplash and other injuries; however, whiplash occurs most frequently during rear-end impacts in a car. Whiplash occurs when the head suddenly moves back and forth in any given direction due to a powerful force, extending the neck beyond its normal range of motion. This type of injury can also be caused by trauma from a sports injury or other type of accident. The neck is a complex structure consisting of joints, muscles, tendons, ligaments, nerves, blood vessels, and other tissues. When the neck structures are subjected to an extreme force, such as that from a car crash, the tissues within the neck can become irritated and inflamed, causing injuries that result in pain, whiplash headaches, and other symptoms.

The symptoms of whiplash generally develop immediately after the automobile accident, although occasionally, the pain and discomfort can take up to several days, weeks, or even months to manifest. The pain is often in the form of whiplash headaches.

Headache Treatment: Caused By Whiplash

If an individual suffered injuries from an auto accident, whether these were visible wounds or only symptoms of pain and headaches, the victim needs to seek medical attention as soon as possible to determine the source of their symptoms. Treating whiplash can help relieve head pain. Many people involved in a car accident are sent to the emergency room, or ER, where they are treated for any life-threatening injuries from the incident. However, the ER often only treats open wounds or bone fractures, overlooking the individual’s neck and head pain. They may prescribe pain killers or muscle relaxers for the symptoms but, while these may help relieve the pain and restore function, the effects are only temporary, and they are not meant to be a cure for headaches or whiplash.

Headaches and whiplash should be treated at the source, and, fortunately, there are many different forms of treatment to alleviate the symptoms of an automobile injury.

Chiropractic care is a popular and effective alternative treatment option for a variety of soft-tissue injuries. Chiropractic focuses on restoring the normal function of the spine and its surrounding structures, eliminating symptoms, and improving the flexibility and mobility of the body. Once the healthcare specialist completes a diagnosis, they utilize various therapies and treatments according to their injuries or conditions. Chiropractors will frequently use spinal adjustments and manual manipulations to rehabilitate the spine back into its natural alignment, decreasing the stress and pressure of the tissues around the affected region and reducing the irritation, inflammation, ultimately helping eliminate whiplash headaches and other symptoms. Additionally, a chiropractor may recommend a series of exercises to strengthen the body and speed up the rehabilitation process.

Chiropractic Care For Headaches

Chiropractic care can help both treats and prevent chronic headaches and migraines. The majority of head pain symptoms generally originate from spinal misalignments, improper posture, and reduced spinal mobility due to direct injury or an underlying condition. Also, the muscles surrounding the cervical spine may develop poor contraction patterns of scar tissue between the layers of the muscle that could also cause head pain. These complications can improve with chiropractic treatments on the spine, specifically focusing on the neck and upper back.

Finally, preventing headaches can be accomplished by staying active. However, while resuming back to any physical activities, keep in mind to avoid participating in exercises that could aggravate any injuries or conditions that caused the headaches or migraines in the first place.

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Chiropractic Care and Headaches