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What Kind Of Headaches
Are There?
More that 90% of
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 muskuloskeletal form of tension-type headache (which may
also be related to migraines). Many times, cervicogenic headache goes
undiagnosed as such due to 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. You should also be aware that many people
experience what are termed “analgesic rebound headaches” from taking
painkillers every day, or nearly every day. Watch out! The medicine
you take to get rid of today’s headache may give you a headache
tomorrow and the days after.
 What Can Chiropractic Do?
Chiropractors have had
considerable success relieving the cause of headache pain and
releasing headache sufferers from the dangerous vicious circle of
taking ever-larger doses of ever-stronger painkillers that may even
be causing new and worse headaches.
Chiropractic adjustments have shown
to be as effective and even more effective than medications in reducing
the severity and frequency of headaches. Chiropractic is particularly
successful dealing with cervicogenic headache. Even though cervicogenic
and other tension-type headaches may not actually involve stress or
muscle tension, chiropractic’s ability to adjust spinal abnormalities
seems to lessen or remove the forces contributing to many individuals
headache pain.
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