Los Angeles Times reports that more than 10% of the population suffers from migraine, a headache pattern so severe that it is often described as debilitating. With nausea, sensitivity to light and dizziness often accompanying the searing pain, it is easy to see why sufferers seek advice anywhere from old wives’ tales to neurologists offices about how to prevent and treat the pain and discomfort.
Evidence suggesting the most common triggers for migraine is varied and debated, including everything from cheese-free diets to cutting down consumption of caffeine. While the causes of the headaches remain uncertain, thanks to Dr. Andrew Bang, chiropractor at the world-renowned Cleveland Clinic Center for Integrative Medicine, Cincinnati chiropractors may offer new hope to Queen City migraine sufferers.
Any news of potential relief is music to the ears of those who suffer from the powerful headaches, but precisely how can a visit to the chiropractor help? The Cleveland Clinic expert suggests 3 ways that a chiropractor may be able to help, in conjunction with any medication or treatment prescribed by a patient’s neurologist or other physician.
First, according to Bang, the discomfort felt during a migraine attack originates from one of four parts of the head and neck region: “…the shoulders, the neck, the head itself, and then the TMJ (temporomandibular joint).” The TMJ joins the jaw to the skull and can cause pain when it becomes tense. Manipulating the area can bring relief from migraine episodes with TMJ tension as a root cause.
Second, constricting blood vessels throughout the skull have long been suspected as the culprit for many migraine patients. By massaging the skull to increase blood flow to those blood vessels, migraine pain with constricted blood vessels as its cause may be relieved.
Finally, for some Cincinnati migraine sufferers, the migraine may have as its root a repetitive stress injury to the muscles of the neck and shoulders. This is especially likely for office workers who hold a computer mouse or other device in the same position for extended periods of time on a regular basis. This pain in the neck and shoulders can move, “…up to the back of our head, into the skull, and that’s like the source of their migraine.”
To find out how the doctors at Norwood Chiropractic may be able to help bring relief from migraine pain, please contact us.
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