Migraine attacks can last for hours—or even days. They can cause intense pain, nausea, and vomiting. They can make you sensitive to light or noise, and they can affect your life and work.
The pain and discomfort you are feeling every day means that you will be increasing your dosage of painkilling medications due to the development of tolerance (when your body becomes used to the drug so it stops being as effective.) This can then lead you into a process where the drugs are actually making your headaches worse and more frequent. This process is called ‘rebound phenomenon’.
Drugs involved in the development of medication overuse headache
Drugs that are associated with the development of chronic daily headaches include: Caffeine, Ergots, Paracetamol, Codeine and the Triptans.
Further problems
The overuse of acute migraine drugs can also stop preventative migraine medications from working and long-term use of acute drugs may be damaging to the liver and kidneys.
So how does Chiropractic aid as an alternative treatment method
Your Doctor of Chiropractic’s main aim is to correct any neuromusculoskeletal (nerves, muscles and bones of the body) source of your headache. He or she will perform a special spinal examination to determine whether the symptoms may be alleviated by chiropractic care. The examination can determine whether the headache may be caused, or aggravated by any misaligned vertebrae in the spine, a condition known as a subluxation, which may be creating undue nerve interference.
Chiropractic care may help prevent unnecessary tension and/or irritation in the neck and head. In some instances, chiropractic adjustments (specific spinal manipulations) can provide immediate relief for headache victims. A study of 87 headache victims who were treated with chiropractic adjustments over a two-year period revealed marked improvement. The common migraine had ceased altogether or was much improved in 85 percent of the females and 50 percent of the males. For those with classical migraine, the improvement rate was 78 percent in females and 75 percent in males.
Chiropractic isn’t an aspirin! Repeated visits, even when you’re feeling better, can help retrain and strengthen the muscles that support our spine. Just as it takes more than one or two workouts in the gym to get in shape, it takes time for your spine to heal.
