Are you interested in a natural remedy for your migraine headaches that does not involve drugs, surgeries or medications?

Are you motivated to find the real cause of your migraine headaches and improve your condition without the use of medication and injections?

Statistics:

1. Effects an estimated more than 10% of people worldwide
2. Occurs most often among people aged 20 to 50 years
3. Is about 3 times more common in women than in men. In a large US survey, 17.1% of women and 5.6% of men reported having migraine symptoms
4. Migraine is the sixth-most-disabling disease in the world.
5. Roughly 39 million people in the United States and 1 billion people worldwide have migraine. This makes migraine the third most common illness in the world.
6. Migraine costs the U.S. economy about $36 billion a year in healthcare costs and lost productivity.
7. One billion dollars a year is spent on brain scans for people with headaches.

Migraine is often characterized by throbbing pain in one area of the head lasting 4 to 72 hours and is associated with symptoms such as sensitivity to light or sound, nausea, and vomiting. Some individuals experience visual disturbances (auras) that may present as zigzag lines or flashing lights either before or during a migraine.

The International Headache Society has classified over 150 different types of headaches.

The most common are migraines, tension, and cluster headaches.

Knowing what kind of headache you are dealing with is the first step towards finding the best plan of care to find relief but the top 3 are:

• Migraine: sensitivity to light and sound is common during migraine headaches. Approximately 1/3rd of people will experience an aura before the onset of a migraine
• Tension: almost everyone will experience a tension headache during their life. Stress, anxiety, dehydration, and even posture can trigger a tension headache
• Cluster: affecting more men than women, cluster headaches causes severe pain behind or around your eye and last between 15 minutes and 3 hours

THE TOP 3 CAUSES OF HEADACHES

A variety of factors can cause primary headaches. The good news is that many of these lifestyle factors are habits and patterns that you can control. By understanding a few of the most common causes of headaches, you will have the information to make the changes needed to find lasting relief!

• Medications: many commonly prescribed pain-relieving medications (including those prescribed for headache relief) list headaches as a top side effect is a leading factor in a refractory or bounce-back headache, which is why pills may not be the best option for care.
• Foods: coffee, cheese, alcohol, and many types of meat contain substances that can contribute to headaches
• Posture: forward head posture due to long hours sitting or standing at work is a primary factor in the development of tension and cervicogenic headaches many tension headaches get their start with repetitive motion and poor posture while sitting or standing at work.

Do you see anything in the top 3 causes that may be contributing to your headaches? Taking a proactive step of improving your posture and ergonomics at work, moderating the foods which cause headaches, or asking your doctor about the side effects of medications and potentially finding alternative treatment options may help you reduce the frequency, severity, and impact headaches are having in your life.

Individuals suffering with headaches often have problems with their neck causing radiating problems that refer into the head.

There are 7 bones in the neck and I have found 3 primary patterns of pain.

Pattern #1
Patients with upper neck problems most commonly have headaches in the front or back of the head (sometimes migraines) and will often feel like their head is too heavy and it worsens as the day goes on. Usually they just want to lay down to get the weight of their head off their neck.

Pattern #2
Patients with middle neck problems most often are bothered by the large neck muscles on the shoulders called the trapezius (traps). This will often cause tension headaches to the side of the head and people would like someone to massage their shoulders. These people will often say that mental stress or anxiety increase pain at this area of the neck.

Pattern #3
Patients with lower neck problems will often have pain that refers into the upper back/scapular (wing bone) area and sometimes down the arms/hands. People with this problem will often say that laying their head down on the pillow at night is uncomfortable causing them to blame their pillow for their problem. They will usually say that the morning is when their neck bothers them most.

If you have 1 pattern or a combination of patterns you might be an excellent candidate for chiropractic care.

At the Cromwell Chiropractic Center we address the three main causes of dis-ease or health: chemical, physical and mental influences for a whole body approach.

• To address the mental influences in dis-ease at our clinic we use specific examination techniques and cutting edge neurodiagnostics to assess for brain dysregulation and balance.
• To address the chemical influences we use targeted supplementation for your specific health problems along with specific dietary recommendations.
• To address the physical component of dis-ease we use in-house digital x-ray, specific targeted programs to rehabilitate the causes of your individual headaches

I look forward to meeting with you soon.

Dr. Robert Shortell D.C.