Headaches;  John Toft, DC

 

Headaches can be classified as tension-type, migraine or cervicogenic. 

By far, most people get tension-type headaches and get them frequently. They typically suffer mild to moderate pain, on both sides of the head, that is often described as tight, stiff, constricting- like having something wrapped around your head and pressing tightly.

Migraines are periodic severe, throbbing headaches that afflict far fewer people (and more women than men), usually hurt on one side of the head, can cause loss of appetite, nausea and even vomiting, and may involve a visual change called an aura.

Cervicogenic headache is a musculoskeletal form of tension-type headache (which may also be related to migraines).  Many times, cervicogenic headache goes undiagnosed as such due to the relative newness of this classification.

Who suffers from headaches?

Many millions of adults, worldwide, get headaches regularly. Headaches are among the most common physical complaints prompting people to treat themselves or get professional assistance. One estimate holds that some 50 million people in the U.S. get severe, long-lasting, recurring headaches. Most headaches are not signs of serious underlying conditions, but they can be very distracting, debilitating and account for significant amounts of time lost from work.

What should I be concerned about?

If you are a headache sufferer, your obvious concern is to obtain safe, dependable relief. You should avoid making things worse by using drugs - even over-the-counter, nonprescription drugs - that can have serious side effects and dangerous interactions with other medications or supplements you take. Any treatment that does not address the underlying cause of the headache will be temporary at best.  The goal of any treatment should be more than a short-term fix.

What can Chiropractic with Applied Kinesiology do?

Traditional Chiropractic has always had considerable success relieving headaches.  Chiropractic adjustments have shown to be very effective in reducing the severity and frequency of headaches.  But, as with many problems, they seem to come back time and time again.

In the Applied Kinesiology workup, our goal is to find and fix the true underlying cause(s) of the problem.  We use manual muscle testing to find st

When headaches are the result of food allergies and causing muscle tension headaches, these problems can be easily found and treated as well.  With the understanding of how the different interactions in the body take place with advanced Applied Kinesiology techniques, we are now able to successfully treat virtually all headaches.