Chiropractors Can Help With Headaches

When patients present to us at Complete Chiropractic for issues regarding headaches –  Most of our patients describe a tension feeling. Sometimes it’s a tight band across the skull or dull ache around the head or behind the eyes. One of the most common causes we find is that a large proportion of headaches are cervicogenic in nature – that is coming from the neck and shoulders. When neck pain relief is provided and effectively treated with chiropractic – symptoms can resolve. This is our primary focus at Complete Chiropractic in Dee Why.

Headaches affect just about everyone at some point and they can present themselves in many different ways. With summer coming, and the temperatures on the Northern Beaches of Sydney heating up – headaches become more prevalent.
Some people experience neck and shoulder pain, or sometimes discomfort in one part of their head or behind their eyes. Other people experience a pounding sensation inside their whole head, and some people even experience feeling sick. The pain itself may be dull or sharp lasting for anywhere from a few minutes to a few days. Fortunately, very few headaches have serious underlying causes, but those that do require urgent medical attention.

There has been many studies that have shown chiropractic adjustments are very effective for treating tension headaches. Especially those headaches that originate or stem from in the neck. A report released in 2001 by researchers at the Duke University Evidence-Based Practice Center in Durham, NC, found that:
“Spinal manipulation resulted in almost immediate improvement for those headaches that originate in the neck, and had significantly fewer side effects and longer-lasting relief of tension-type headache than commonly prescribed medications.”
From this study and multiple earlier studies such as those published in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics. There has been findings that spinal manipulative therapy (including chiropractic adjustments) to be very effective for treating tension headaches. This study also found long term benefits. Those who stopped chiropractic treatment after four weeks continued to experience a sustained benefit in contrast to those patients who received pain medication.

Each individual’s case is different and requires a thorough evaluation before a proper course of chiropractic care can be determined. However, in most cases of tension headaches, significant improvement is accomplished through manipulation of the upper cervical vertebrae, coupled with adjustments to the junction between the cervical and thoracic spine. This is also helpful in most cases of migraine headaches, as long as food and lifestyle triggers are avoided as well. Come speak to our wonderful team on the Northern beaches of Sydney at Complete Chiropractic today.

Complete Chiropractic Dee Why
Suite 1, 32 Fisher Road, Dee Why, NSW 2099
Ph: (02) 9972 0040