You can feel it coming. There’s a stiffness in your neck, a slight throbbing somewhere in your head, a tightness around your temples. A headache is about to hit and for some, it will stop them in their tracks, cause them to skip work or school or turn into a full-blown migraine.
It’s safe to say that almost every person in their lifetime will get a headache. Some people treat them with pills or natural remedies. Sometimes they can be taken care of with a good night’s sleep or drinking some water.
The fact is, you can get a headache for a variety of reasons and you can treat them in a variety of ways. But one of those ways that people often forget is regular visits to the chiropractor.
Why Do We Get Headaches?
As we mentioned, you can get a headache for a variety of reasons. Some of those include:
- Stress
- Certain foods
- Muscle contractions in your neck (neck strain, injury, etc.)
- Eyestrain
- Sinus problems
- Fatigue
- Smoking
- Sickness
- Poor Posture
- Dehydration
Some of the problems listed above can be fixed on your own, such as making it a goal to get enough sleep or to stop smoking. Headaches tie in with physical health so making sure you stay active and are taking care of your immune system is important. It’s also important to know that there are different types of headaches. The five most common headaches people suffer from are:
- Tension Headaches: The most common, this headache is characterized by constant aching near the temples or back of the head and neck.
- Cluster Headaches: These headaches happen on one side of the head and have a severe, stabbing pain associated with them as well as a runny nose and watery eyes, that usually dissipates pretty quickly
- Sinus Headaches: Due to allergies or sinus issues, these headaches often cause dizziness, constant pressure across the face and nose, and plugged ears.
- Rebound Headaches: These headaches are caused by taking too many over the counter pain relievers such as Tylenol or Ibuprofen.
- Migraine: These headaches can last for hours or days and usually involve severe throbbing pain, nausea, vomiting, and sensitivity to light.
How can a Chiropractor Help?
You can take over-the-counter medications to try and handle the issue but taking them shouldn’t always be the first go to. You should try to hydrate, sleep, stretch or participate in regular exercise. You can also start seeing a chiropractor.
There’s a term in chiropractic care called subluxation. Subluxation is when a spine joint or vertebra comes out of alignment. If this happens, it can wreak all kinds of havoc on your body and agitate your spinal discs and nerves leading to headaches. In fact, we believe many headaches can be relieved when subluxation is corrected by professional chiropractic alignment.
Here at South Orange Chiropractic Center, we study everything about you from your posture to your balance to how well you bend at the waist. All of these areas allow us to identify what problem areas you can have in your spine and help us create a plan to fix those.
From there we can intuitively and gently locate subluxations of the spine and then reading them in the curve they should be in. This helps relieve pressure on your muscles and tendons that move through your back up to your head.
With consistent alignment, sufferers of regular headaches can see relief pretty quickly.
Your Life. Your Care
Headaches can be debilitating. They can stop you in your tracks and not let you enjoy life the way you want to. Here at South Orange Chiropractic Center, our goals are to reduce your pain, increase your strength, mobility and flexibility, as well as prevent future injury and dysfunction.
If you suffer from headaches, we encourage you to contact us today and see how much better your life is with your care in our hands.
