The Benefits of Chiropractic Adjustments for Tension Headaches
If you have ever experienced a painful headache that felt like a tight band around your head and made it hard to complete daily tasks, you might be familiar with tension headaches. However, as often as they may occur, and as painful as they may be, you are not helpless. There are numerous ways to help deal with tension headaches, and one of the most successful techniques of relieving the pain and reducing the occurrence of tension headaches is chiropractic adjustments.
So What are Tension Headaches?
Tension headaches are headaches that originate in the back of the neck and spread up to your scalp. The pain is generally described as a tight band around the head. This pain can last anywhere from a couple of hours, to a week. They can be caused by a variety of things from stress, to holding your head in a single position for an extended period of time, (like reading or looking at a computer.) They can also be triggered by strain on the eyes, dehydration, fatigue, and hunger or malnutrition.
How Do I Know it’s a Tension Headache, and Not Something Else?
Tension headaches can be determined from their specific area of pain. It originates in the neck, and spreads up the scalp and around the head. The discomfort can even spread to the shoulders and jaw. The pain can also cause nausea, more stress, and even insomnia and vomiting in severe cases. These headaches vary in degrees of severity from person to person, but are painful and difficult to deal with nonetheless.
How Can Chiropractic Adjustments Help?
First of all, your chiropractor will ask a series of questions and perform an examination after the consultation to determine if your issue is in fact a tension headache. This way, they can customize a series of adjustments to help relieve you of pain and reduce the occurrence of headaches.
By adjusting the spine, your chiropractor will be able to relieve strain from your neck, which will reduce pain. In some cases, patients have been known to experience immediate relief. The University of Maryland recently released a study that suggests chiropractic adjustments are just as effective as prescription drugs for tension headaches. One benefit the study revealed was that patients were pleased with the fact that chiropractic adjustments had no side effects, unlike prescription drugs. Medications can often cause drowsiness, which may relieve pain, but doesn’t help with the inability to preform daily tasks, as you are too drowsy from the painkillers or anti depressants. Long-term use of medications can also result in liver and kidney damage and can generate a dependency on the pills. In other words, no pills equal more headaches. Chiropractic adjustments are a safe and natural alternative to help tension headaches, that don’t cause any chemical harm to the body. It is quick fix that can help eliminate pain and ensure you’re able to preform the simple tasks that tension headaches get in the way of.
If you’re suffering with tension headaches call our office to set up a consultation with Dr. Baldrich to determine if chiropractic care can help you.
Call us at 860-583-4346 or fill out this online appointment request form by filling out the form below.
Dr David M. Spitz is the founder and clinic director of the Chiropractic Health Center of Bristol, located in Bristol, CT. Since 1982, he has treated thousands of patients for various conditions ranging from neck and back pain, to migraine headaches. He specializes in treating patients who have suffered whiplash injuries and/or back injuries in a motor vehicle accident.
Dr Spitz was a volunteer EMT-I and a lieutenant for several years at the Burlington Volunteer Fire Department. He has lectured throughout CT on various topics including, chiropractic, stress management, headaches and preventing back injury in the workplace.
