Does Going to a Chiropractor Help with Migraines?
Maybe you have heard rumors and have wondered yourself – does going to a chiropractor help with migraines? The answer in most cases is ‘absolutely’. The effectiveness of chiropractic care on migraines will often depend on what exactly is causing or contributing to your migraines. Getting an in depth evaluation can really make the difference of finding out what is going on.
Patients who experience migraines are commonly seeking any form of relief for the extreme pain, blurred vision, and nausea that frequently accompanies episodes. Usually, this means diving into the medicine cabinet to find some pain relief pills or migraine medications. The problem with this approach is that it is just covering up the symptoms of the migraine temporarily. The medication will wear off, your migraine symptoms may return, and you might be right back in the same situation over and over again. That’s the reason it’s so important to get a consult with a corrective care chiropractor to see if this type of care can deliver a more permanent solution to help stop or reduce your recurring migraines.
How does chiropractic care help migraines?
Migraines are different from common headaches because blood vessels will typically expand during a migraine, whereas they contract during a typical headache. As a result, the surrounding nerves and tissues become compressed where it becomes painful, and that pain manifests itself either as a headache or migraine. Often, misalignment, whether an individual bone or spinal curve, in the spine can result in irritated nerves and spinal cord tension in the body structures controlling blood flow to the head. Correcting the misalignments with a chiropractic adjustment and/or fixing the spinal curvature in these areas can relieve that tension, irritation and stress, thereby relieving headaches.
Furthermore, neck and back pain can trigger migraines because of the stress it can put on the nervous system, and chiropractic adjustments and/or traction therapy in these areas can often alleviate the pain. Corrective care chiropractors perform extensive diagnostic tests to determine whether or not these areas have any misalignments or abnormal curvature. These tests will help find the underlying cause of pain and discomfort. That often leads to a specific treatment focused directly on the area causing the issue.
Despite this, there is no tried-and-true cure for migraine headaches, partly because there are so many potential causes. However, chiropractic care is one of the most effective approaches for reducing the severity and the frequency of migraines and other headaches. Here are some of the results that chiropractic care can bring about for a migraine sufferer:
- Decreases nerve irritation so that pain signals do not transmit to the brain
- Restores proper communications to the nervous system by restoring proper alignment
- Restores normal blood flow
- Lowers muscle tension, which is a common migraine trigger
- Strengthens muscles that typically give support to the spine
- Unlocks the healing potential of the body
- Identify migraine triggers to prevent them
Perhaps many more people would seek chiropractic care if they knew how beneficial it is for treating migraines. If you’re someone bothered by recurring headaches or migraines, you should try skipping the pain pills for a while, and seek out a corrective care chiropractor to see if your symptoms can be managed more effectively and over a longer time frame.
Schedule a consultation with Thrive Family Chiropractic in Rapid City, SD to see how our Chiropractic BioPhysics (CBP) trained chiropractors can help you get relief from migraine headaches.
