Headaches

Do you ever wonder why you get Tension Headaches?  We will leave Migraine Headaches for another day. Once you know the true cause of the Headaches then you can find a way to stop them.  I ask all my patients about headaches during their initial exam.  A common answer I get is that they get the "normal" amount of headaches.  And then I laugh and ask them if I am "ABnormal" because I do NOT get headaches.  

First I will tell you why your head hurts and then I will tell you why normal remedies are not working to keep the pain from returning.

Pain in the head can come from inside the skull or outside the skull.  If the pain is outside the skull then they are a tension type headache.  This pain comes from the muscles of the scalp.  It is important to realize that muscles only do what they are told by nerves.  This means that there  is a nerve coming from the neck up to the muscles in the head and telling them to tighten up.  This will then cause pain.

Taking the next step backwards to look for the cause, involves asking,  What is telling the nerve to tell the muscle to spasm?  Almost always there is a reversed neck curve creating less space for the nerves that go through the neck. Now that there is less space for the nerve, any inflammation or irritation to the neck can cause the nerve to cause the muscle to spasm.  This directly leads to headaches.  

This is why most over the counter drugs for inflammation will  ONLY cause temporary relief. AND they do not fix the problem.   The nerve will be irritated again soon.  If you need quick relief then I suggest alternating between ice and heat on the back of your neck.  Use 20 minutes of heat followed by 10 minutes of ice.

To permanently stop your headaches, you must put the natural curve back into your neck.

See your Chiropractor to see how they can change the curve in your neck and stop your Tension Headaches for good!

Be Healthy,

Dr. Rafey