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The Severe Headache Guide
The Purpose of this guide is simple: to help you discover little known opinions that you have that may end your headaches.
So Let's get started...
Most of us started gettings headaches as an adult.
Perhaps a few years there was a neck trauma or you strained yourself at work or play... or worse, maybe you've become a couch potato, or spend long hours at the keyboard, allowing your muscles to get weak and tight.
Job stresand daily life in general can affect headache pain. Because just about anything can seem to bring a headache on-they seem to come out of nowhere. This leads to enoumous frustration and worry.
The quality of life of a person with chronic headaches is much reduced and many aspects of life are affected; emotional, social, mental,
and physical well-being, are all affected with headaches.
Even if you start getting headaches in your 40's you may still suffer for many decades taking the near daily pain pill therapy, with perhaps no end in sight. It makes you wonder if our current medical "approach" to this so called "epidemic" is on track. If more and more people are getting headaches, are we really getting at the root of the problem?
In the U.S. our use of pills has gotten so widespread that we now have headaches that are actually caused by the pain pills themselves. People get "addicted" to the headache-pill cycle and need the drugs withdrawn.
SO WHAT DOES MODERN MEDICINE HAVE TO OFFER AS A SOLUTION FOR YOUR HEADACHE?
Apparently more pills are the only refrain, or perhaps new delivery systems such as nasal mists.
In medicine there is a constant search for the newest pain blocker, rather than finding the CAUSE of the headache.
First it was aspirin then Tylenol....then extra strength Tylenol.
These drugs satisfied our habit for a few decades(take two aspirin and call me in the morning as the saying goes).
But we needed much more powerful medications such as ibuprofen. This drug seems to have problems with stomach bleeding over the long-term. Even strong narcotics are prescrived for some.
Have you ever thought about how many pills Americans consume each year. It's a huge amount , and yet we are no better. Headaches continue to strike more and more of us, and at an even earlier age. Consider taking paon medications for five or six decades. You'd need an iron stomach.
Everyone who has beat headaches withour pain pills didn't start that way. I don't know od any patients who started out thinking, "headache?" "better go see the chiropractor right away." Maybe children of chiropractors but that;s about it.
Everyone comes in with their bag of pills or tells me about their medicine chest at the house, or in their purse.
READ THOSE LABELS
Have you noticed that recently more warnings have appeared? Well they have.
They talk about stomach bleeding and ulcers, liver failure, kidney problems, and that's just the drugs you can get over the counter.
Our pharmaceutical culture in America has really gotten out of hand. Commercials are everywhere and now we see ads on TV
selling pills for everything from twitching legs to headaches... a pill for every ache and pain When is it going to end? Probable never...
BUT MAYBE YOU CAN DECIDE TO GET OFF THE PILL TRAIN.
Maybe today after you've read this guide you will also share my concern for curing every ill with a pill.
It wouldn't be so bad if you just tool a few pills every now and then...but these powerful medications have become part of the national diet!
The rest of the story...
The label on the bottle doesn't tell the whole story though. The whole story is that these pills don't just erode your stomach lining or make your liver fail ( in rare cases), the whole story is that they don't fix the actual problem. But maybe you or your doctor, have never really thought about it that way before. You didn"t think you had a lack of ibuprofen in your diet right? Like eating five veggies a day. Of course not!
The whole story is that your headache is a signal. A signal that something in your body may not be working properly.
TENSION HEADACHES are one of the most common headaches:
This is where you feel your head is in a vise. Usually you'll have back stiffness and even neck pain when this gets real bad.
GOOD NEWS If You Think Have Tension Headaches
In the case of tension type headaches, four weeks of conservative care from a Doctor of Chiropractic compared to the drug amitriptyline
reduced headache intensity by 42% and there was a 52% drop in headache frequency (how often you get the headache)
Medications will also decrease the pain, but what happens when you stop taking the drug?
The same study showed that the headaches returned when the drug was stopped, meaning there was no lasting effect. In comparison. the chiropractic patients remained more pain-free even after the adjustments were stopped!!!
SIDE EFFECTS?
The study also looked at side effects with the different treatments.
In the chiropractic group only 4.3% reported side effects which was usually neck soreness or stiffness.
In the amitriptyline group 82% of the patients taking the drug had short term side effects.
BUT WHAT IF YOU SUFFER FROM MIGRAINE HEADACHES
The same group of investigators as in the study above also tested chiropractic adjustments versus amitryptiline in migraine headache sufferers.
The treatments resulted in an over 40% reduction in headache pain and frequency, but the chiropractic group had far fewer side effects of care.
By correcting the joint sprain, you may be closer to getting at the actual cause of the problem than its effect. Once again migraine headaches don't return like they do in those treated with medications.
IF YOU NOTICE THAT WHEN YOU HAVE A HEADACHE, THERE ARE A LOT OF KNOTS AND TENSION IN YOUR SHOULDER AND NECK MUSCLES, THEN THIS A KEY TO UNDERSTANDING THE NECK-HEADACHE LINK
This means that your headaches could be a major sign that something is not quite right in your neck. It's really not all in your head. Just
as leg pain/sciatica is rarely a leg problem, so too, headache can be a symptom of a neck problem.
THAT IS WHY YOU SHOULD HAVE YOUR PROBLEM EVALUATED BY A DOCTOR OF CHIROPRACTIC... AND CONSIDER A COMPREHENSIVE AND NATURAL APPROACH
At Belair Family Chiropractic we offer a comprehensive approach in my clinic for patients with severe headaches. If i think you are a candidate for care, I will also measure your quality of life in a comprehensive way so that we can see if we can see if we're having a positive impact.
We will take a computerized SEMG scan. We will use this scan to measure how you have progressed
We will do a complete history.
X-rays will be taken if a problem in your neck is suspected.
After this examination we will schedule a complete report of findings where you will be told:
A. If I can help
B. And if I can help, how long it may take to get you better
C. Cost, payment plans and insurance coverage
P.S. I've included scientific references below in case you want to read some of the evidence on the safety and efficacy of the conservative type
of chiropractic care I offer in my office.
SCIENTIFIC REFERENCES
Hurwitz, EL, Aker PD, Adams AH, Meeker WC, Shekelle PG. Manipulation and mobilization of the cervical spine. A systemic review of the literature. Spine 1996; 21: 1746-1759
Stude DE, Sweere JJ. A holistic approach to severe headache symptoms in a patient unresponsive to regional manual therapy.
Journal of Manipulative Physical Therapy 1996; 19: 202-207
Nelson CF, Bronfort G, Evans R, Boline P, Goldsmith C, Anderson AV. The efficacy of spinal manipulation, amitriptyline for the
prophylaxis of migraine headache: J Manipulative Physiol Ther 1998 Oct 21, (8) 511-9.
Pediatrics. 2006 Jun;117(6);e1197-201. Long term trends in the incidence of headaches in schoolchildren. Anttila P,
Metsahonkala L, Sillanpaa M.
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