Headaches

Before you take that painkilling pill for your headache or migraine, have you ever wondered what is causing it to be there in the first place and why it keeps coming back?

Headaches are one of the most frequent conditions seen in chiropractic clinics. Tension-type headaches account for nearly 90% of all headaches. (2)

One of the central goals of the chiropractor is to find and correct the underlying causes of your pain, symptoms and poor health. Pain is a good thing in some ways because it warns us that something is wrong in our body. Many headaches are referred pain from a spine that has been damaged or is not working properly.

The chiropractic approach is to locate find and correct abnormal function in the spine and support the new normal function with corrective exercises, postural advice and healthy lifestyle choices.

To discuss your headaches or migraines, get treatment advice and arrange an appointment please contact one of our helpful receptionists today on 07 3801 5288 or make an enquiry here.

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Research Quotes

“Evidence suggests that chiropractic care, including spinal manipulation, improves migraine and cervicogenic (from the neck) headaches.”

View Article JMPT, June 2011 

PubMed 

“The results of this study support previous results showing that some people report significant improvement in migraines after chiropractic SMT.”

J Manipulative Physiol Ther2000;23:91–5

“There was an advantage for SMT (spinal manipulative therapy) over the control (group.) For the higher dose patients, the advantage was greater.”

The Spine Journal 2010 (Feb):   10 (2):   117-128

“For cervicogenic headache, spinal manipulation is recommended.”

JMPT, June 2011, Volume 34, Issue 5, Pages 274–289 

“Several clinical trials indicate that spinal manipulation therapy may help treat migraine headaches. In one study of people with migraines, 22% of those who received chiropractic manipulation reported more than a 90% reduction of attacks. Also, 49% reported a significant reduction of the intensity of each migraine.”

 

“In another study, people with migraine headaches were randomly assigned to receive spinal manipulation, a daily medication (Elavil), or a combination of both. Spinal manipulation worked as well as Elavil in reducing migraines and had fewer side effects. Combining the two therapies didn’t work any better.”

 

“In addition, researchers reviewed 9 studies that tested chiropractic for tension or migraine headaches and found that it worked as well as medications in preventing these headaches.”

 

University of Maryland Medical Center  Migraine headache | University of Maryland Medical Center 

“A paper published in the International Headache Society’s journal Cephalagia in 2011 found that manual therapy was more effective in dealing with headaches than regular GP care when dealing with headaches. The study found that after a short course of manual therapy, three quarters of participants reported that the frequency of their tension type headaches had dropped by 50 per cent.”

European Journal of Physical and Rehabilitation

Article summary here

Adverse Events

“Adverse events were not addressed in most clinical trials; and if they were, there were none or they were minor.”

JMPT, June 2011, Volume 34, Issue 5, Pages 274–289 

References

  1. The Global Year against Headache 
  2. Wikipedia