How we Treat a Migraine and Resolve Tension Type Headaches

Headaches are quite common and can be a symptom of other, more serious, conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, or a vascular disorder.

If you are experiencing new and different symptoms that could potentially lead to these complications, please seek medical attention right away, especially if there are changes in vision, consciousness, or muscle control.

Types of Headaches

Tension Headaches

Headaches related to muscle tension and the chronic postural strain of holding yourself up are often a dull nagging sick feeling. Tension headaches can also be severe, debilitating and associated with nausea and vomiting.

In this type of case, a thorough exam must be performed to rule out other causes, including vascular insufficiency. Many people feel that tension headaches are cervicogenic or coming from the neck.

We find when we teach specific exercises and mobility/stability drills to develop the endurance for activity of daily living, tension headaches decrease or disappear. Adding safe and appropriate manual therapy to help improve mobility is, quite often, the key to lasting success.

Migraine

Many patients report a severe headache as a migraine. Severity is not, necessarily, a diagnostic hallmark for migraine.Many people have quite severe tension headaches that are not migraine and others have optical migraine, with visual changes, and no pain.

One question that comes up, often clinically, is whether postural changes and manual care, such as chiropractic, can help migraine sufferers. Those of us who have suffered from migraine and those of us who also treat migraine patients know the answer to that is a firm "yes."

One Australian study that confirms this found that a 4-week treatment plan of chiropractic manual techniques resulted in significant improvement. in fact, 22% of the patients reported a lasting 90% improvement others in the study also reported significant lasting improvement.

Cervicogenic

Headaches related to neck pain or neck strain are a staple in our chiropractic offices. While most headaches respond quite well to manual therapy and chiropractic manipulation, adjustment, cervicogenic (coming from the neck) headaches respond the best. These are, often, patients who sit in one place for a long time such as at a computer, driving or playing an instrument. By restoring mobility, stability and posture, pain can be dramatically reduced.

Conservative Management of Headache

Diet, environment, and stress triggers often must be evaluated and eliminated. Diaries kept by patients for weeks to months can give insight to triggers and underlying issues. In our office, though, we start with physical exams and listen to lifestyle, work, posture, and activities.

Because so many studies affirm that many types of headaches respond well to conservative chiropractic manual care including adjustments, we look for ergonomic factors and examine for joint fixations and muscle imbalance to address. Chronic postural strain is a huge common factor with headache sufferers across the board.

Home Care

We have a variety of exercise and self-care treatment techniques and will teach patents all we can to help them take diligent care of themselves. This assures longer lasting improvement, decreased recurrence and much fewer visits to our, or other, offices.

Sometimes we teach a change in workstation, pillow or driving posture. Other times it is teaching a few simple stretch techniques to be done periodically during the day.

We have a lot of success with headaches. Everyone is different and, with experience, we usually can find the key to unlock the vice grip of headache pain.

References

Esp-Lpez GV, Rodrguez-Blanco C, Oliva-Pascual-Vaca A, Molina-Martnez F, Falla D. Do manual therapy techniques have a positive effect on quality of life in people with tension-type headache? A randomized controlled trial. Eur J Phys Rehabil Med. 2016 Aug;52(4):447-56. Epub 2016 Feb 29. PMID: 26928164.

Tuchin PJ, Pollard H, Bonello R. A randomized controlled trial of chiropractic spinal manipulative therapy for migraine. J Manipulative Physiol Ther. 2000 Feb;23(2):91-5. PMID: 10714533.

Dunning JR, Butts R, Mourad F, Young I, Fernandez-de-Las Peas C, Hagins M, Stanislawski T, Donley J, Buck D, Hooks TR, Cleland JA. Upper cervical and upper thoracic manipulation versus mobilization and exercise in patients with cervicogenic headache: a multi-center randomized clinical trial. BMC Musculoskelet Disord. 2016 Feb 6;17:64. doi: 10.1186/s12891-016-0912-3. PMID: 26852024; PMCID: PMC4744384