Chiropractor For Headaches Lafayette, CO
Are you in need of a chiropractor for headaches in Lafayette Colorado? South Pointe Chiropractic is highly experienced in treating many types of headaches whether they are acute or chronic. We accept most insurance!
Headaches are one of the most common pain symptoms, 9/10 Americans suffer from headaches that often range in frequency and intensity, some can even cause debilitating pain and nausea.
The causes of headaches are widespread and often involve a “trigger”. These triggers can be a result of environmental stimuli (noise, light, stress), behavior (sleep habits, exercise, blood sugar changes), and foods. Of all headaches, only 5% can be traced to physical problems, with the remaining 95% categorized as primary headaches that are commonly identified as tension, migraine or cluster headaches.
A vast majority of these primary headaches can be traced to muscle tension in the neck. Especially with current social conditions, Americans engage in more sedentary activities than ever before, which leads to increased joint irritation and muscle tension in the neck, back and upper scalp leading to headaches.
Tension Headaches
- Eye Strain: Excessive screen time can cause what is known as “digital eye strain”. Some ways to prevent eye strain is to increase distance between eyes and screen, take a break every 20 minutes to focus on an object in the distance, and remember to blink often.
- Stress: One of the central causes of headaches, stress causes people to subconsciously tighten their shoulders, neck, and trapezius muscle. Jaw clenching and teeth grinding are also a factor, skipped meals can lower blood pressure, and stress can even effect sleeping patterns. Developing a healthy system to manage stress can significantly reduce pain for tension headache sufferers.
- Poor Posture: People who work desk jobs sitting fr long periods of time often develop bad posture. Although posture can be corrected over time using patient education and manual therapy, it can also have negative effects on spine health and neck pain.
- Nutrition: Often times, individuals drink large amounts of caffeine, skip meals to keep up with a busy schedule, and suffer dehydration due to not drinking enough water. Having an increased focus on nutrition may help reduce your or eliminate episodic tension headaches.
Chronic Tension Headaches
Chronic tension headaches occur when the symptoms are present for 15 or more days per month, for at least 3 months at a time. When tension headaches are chronic, symptoms may include vomiting, nausea, and sensitivity to light and sound, although this is rare. Episodic tension headache have the highest risk of becoming chronic.
Underlying issues such as depression, anxiety, stress, depression, and over the counter medication use are often present in individuals which chronic headaches.
Chiropractic Care For Tension Headaches
For patients that experience minor to severe headaches, traditional over the counter medications may have little to no effect. Surprisingly, taking medications often for tension headaches increases the chances of being effected in the future. Chiropractic adjustments are an excellent, medication free, solution in the treatment for tension headaches.
Fortunately spinal manipulation, chiropractic adjustments and other methods of chiropractic care help to improve spinal function have been shown to reduce pain and stress throughout your body. Depending on the individual case, nutritional advice such as a change in diet or advice on posture and relaxation techniques can also help relieve recurring irritation.
Patient education also plays an important role in regard to proper posture when relaxing or working, and exercises to strengthen weaker muscles and improve range of motion.
Beyond spinal manipulation alone, other tools such as soft tissue therapy are an effective treatment method. We use methods such as instrument assisted soft tissue mobilization, cupping, and massage therapy to relieve chronic neck pain that plays a role in headache symptoms.
The main focus of chiropractic treatment is the suboccipital group, upper cervical spine mobility, levator scapulae issues including spasms and tenderness, as well as joint mobilization and joint manipulation. Shoulder mobility and neck extension ability examinations will help your chiropractor pinpoint the source of your pain.
Chiropractic treatment combined with patient education to make lifestyle changes such as less screen time, more water, and better posture result in significantly reduced recurrent headaches.
Migraines
These types of headaches are common with over 3 million people per year experiencing them in the United States. Migraine sufferers usually report severe pain in the head along with nausea, vomiting, and sensitivity to light that can last anywhere from a few hours to multiple days.
Roughly 60% that experience migraine attacks will notice symptoms in the hours or days leading up to the onset of a migraine. These symptoms include:
- Severe thirst
- Changes in mood
- Sensitivities to bright lights, loud noises, and strong smells
- Diarrhea and constipation
- Fatigue and lack of appetite or cravings for specific foods
Another common symptom of migraine headaches is known as an “aura”, which is a visual disturbance that stems from the nervous system, usually lasting less than a few hours. The aura often involves seeing hallucinations of dots, wavy lines, flashes of light, developing tunnel vision or complete loss of vision.
Chiropractor For Migraines
Many that experience migraine pain have tried a variety of treatment options, from over the counter pain medication to neurology specialists. At South Pointe Chiropractic we advise patients that see us for migraine relief to see a neurologist first to rule out the possibility of an intracranial headache.
Manipulations and other manual therapies are used to increase range of motion and joint function in the upper cervical spine, which has been shown to reduce migraine headaches.
How will a Lafayette, CO headache chiropractor help you?
When coming in for an appointment with on of our Lafayette, CO chiropractors, we will perform an initial examination including medical history to determine if the patient is healthy enough to receive treatment. Our main goal is the receive pain symptoms in as little visits as possible and use patient education as form of preventive care for lasting pain relief.
We use diversified techniques, which is highly effective at treating many kinds of musculoskeletal disorders including headaches. Diversified chiropractic techniques use evidence based approaches that tailor a treatment plan that fits the individual patients needs. This may include a combination of chiropractic manipulations, stretching, home exercise programs, and patient education.
Headache FAQ's
Can chiropractors help with tensioin headaches?
Tension headaches are the most common type, responsible for around 90% of all head pain. Causing symptoms in the head, scalp, and neck they are brought on by stress, dehydration, screen time, neck or back pain and poor posture.
Chiropractic care is highly effective at treating headaches, providing immediate relief and patient education to stop them from occurring in the future.
Can chiropractors help with sinus headaches?
Sinusitis occurs due to inflammation of the sinuses, if fluid also blocks the sinuses it can lead to infections, pain and discomfort.
In some cases, an upper cervical chiropractic adjustment may help improve sinus drainage. If the sinuses are able to drain more efficiently, there will be less headaches from built up pain and pressure.
Can a chiropractor make headaches worse?
The overall goal of chiropractic treatment is to improve spinal mobility, bio mechanics, and overall wellbeing. Some patients have reported experiencing a minor headache after receiving chiropractic treatment. This effect is the natural reaction of the body to the release of toxins as well as gases built up in the joint capsule.
Being a pathway for chemical signals, adjustments of the spine can lead to a release of pent up pressures, flooding the nervous system with a sudden influx of chemical signals. Although uncommon, a headache from an adjustment is minor. When you are seeing a chiropractor to reduce headaches, the benefits far out weight any concerns of side effects.
Can an adjustment help headaches?
Chiropractic adjustment can help improve chronic and acute neck pain, which is often a key factor in reducing headaches.
Depending on the patient, an adjustment may be part of the treatment plan, which may also include massage therapy, stretching, exercises, and patient education.
What is the most frequent type of headache?
Tension headaches are the most common type of headache in the world. Contributing factors for tension headaches may be muscle tension, stress, environment, or acute injury.
The symptoms usually include moderate pain on both sides of the head, and or the back of the neck and head.
What are the 4 types of headaches?
While there are actually several hundred unique types of headaches, the four most common ones include: tension, sinus, cluster, and migraine.
The most common type of headache that our providers treat is tension.
What is a TMJ headache?
The temporomandibular joint (TMJ) may be responsible for headache symptoms. The TMJ is the hinge connecting the skull with the jaw.
Due to the complexity of hinging and sliding motions that the joint is responsible for, it can cause a variety of symptoms including headaches if it is not functioning properly.