One of the most common questions a patient asks a Chiropractic Physician is “Why am I having so many headaches and is there anything Chiropractic can do to help?“ The answer to the first part of that question requires a multi-tiered response because there are many reasons a patient may be having headaches and even different types of headaches. Below we will explore those further:
- There are tension headaches that come from the multiple stressors we encounter in our daily lives such as stress on the job, family stress, or even being stuck in traffic for long periods of time (think Alcoa Highway at 5:00-6:00 pm on a Friday afternoon). This chronic stress causes the muscles at the back of the neck to tighten up, irritating the joints and nerves, triggering a headache. This type of headache is usually felt at the back of your head.
- Vertebral misalignments can cause headaches in the back of your head, your temples, the top of your head, your forehead, or even behind your eyes. Each vertebra corresponds to different locations, (for example: a misalignment of the C7 vertebrae could be causing headaches at the back of your head, whereas a C4 misalignment could be producing pain in the temples, and a C2 misalignment might be responsible for your forehead pain or the pain behind your eyes, like a sinus-type headache).
- A TMJ (temporomandibular joint) dysfunction can cause tightness in the muscles of the jaw and the side of your head producing a feeling of pressure and sometimes a stabbing pain in your temple which is frequently accompanied by ear pain.
- A Neurovascular headache is another possibility. This type of headache frequently comes from over stimulation of the nervous system caused by joint misalignment in the upper neck, resulting in excessive nerve impulses being sent to the brain that affect the blood vessels in the head. This causes the throbbing type headache that can turn into a migraine (for more information, see migraines on the conditions treated page).
- Headaches can also have other causes such as food allergies, hormone imbalances, chemical sensitivities and environmental toxins (you can find more information about these causes under the Functional Medicine section of our website).
Most headaches have a vertebral or other joint misalignment component. Dr. Williams has developed specific protocols to successfully treat chronic headaches. Following these protocols, patients can expect a reduction in the frequency and intensity of their chronic headaches and with continued care, in most cases, the headaches may even be eliminated altogether.