What Chiropractic Can Do For Headaches

A bad headache can sometimes render a person helpless. If you deal with an occasional headache, then you are one of the 90 percent of Americans who experience them. Some may be dull and throbbing while others cause debilitating pain and nausea. Many turn to pain medicine, but why just mask the problem when you can address the real issues causing your headaches? At Northern Nevada Chiropractic, our back pain and neck pain experts can alleviate your headaches with a natural, healthy treatment plan that is non-invasive and does not rely on drugs. Read on to learn more.

What Causes Headaches

Certain triggers such as foods, noises, lights, stress, and behaviors can lead to headaches. Keep in mind that 95 percent of headaches are primary headaches, such as tension, migraine, or cluster headaches. In particular, the majority of these are associated with muscle tension in the neck. As mentioned here by the American Chiropractic Association, Americans engage in more sedentary activities today than in the past. The effect of multiple hours spent in one fixed position or posture can increase joint irritation and muscle tension in the neck, upper back, and scalp.

How to Avoid Headaches

Below are some suggestions to prevent future headaches:

Take a break and stretch every 30 minutes while at work. Remember that the stretches should take your head and neck through a comfortable range of motion.
Low-impact exercise may help relieve the pain of primary headaches. That said, avoid high-intensity exercise if you consistently deal with throbbing headaches.
Avoid teeth clenching. This leads to stress in the temporomandibular joints (TMJ), which connect your jaw to the skull. Constant clenching of the teeth may result in tension headaches.
Stay hydrated with at least eight 8-ounce glasses of water each day.

What a Chiropractor Can Do for Headaches

Headaches can turn into missed work and school days, limit one’s ability enjoy activities, and interrupt daily functions. An experienced chiropractor will work to find and treat the root cause of the problem. Your doctor may start by performing spinal manipulation or chiropractic adjustments to improve function and alleviate stress. From there, he or she might provide nutritional advice and even dietary changes. In addition, a chiropractor is likely to offer advice on posture, ergonomics, relaxation techniques, and exercises. Through this combination, you will hopefully experience relief from the recurring joint irritation and tension in the muscles of the neck and upper back.

What to Expect from Northern Nevada Chiropractic

At our chiropractic clinic, we embrace a natural and non-invasive approach to healthcare. Should you be dealing with debilitating headaches and migraines, you can count on us to create an individualized treatment plan. Rather than promote harmful and potentially addictive medications, we use the most innovative diagnostic tools and chiropractic techniques to help you combat headaches. Expore our website to learn more about what we can do for headaches and migraines.