That was a phrase that stuck with me from school. Headaches are a very common symptom that people have. Countless times in the office I have conversations with people asking how often they have headaches and they say “the normal amount, a couple of times a week”. WHAT!!! You shouldn’t be having ANY headaches. Just because it’s common does not mean it is normal!
Headaches disrupt people’s life. They make people feel that they can’t concentrate, be in a bad mood, lock themselves in a room with no light or sound, and most importantly make people feel there is nothing that can be done and it is just their “normal”. The question is does it have to be that way?
Personally, I believe it does not have to be that way. And the people we take care of in our office would agree! Most people have headaches and the treatment of choice varies from person to person. The traditional approach requires medication to “get rid” of the headache or to help the person suffering not feel them. The unfortunate part is that the medication aims to cover the symptoms. At Klitsch Family Chiropractic, we aim to find what is causing the headaches. Once that cause is corrected, then the dependency on medications disappears or is reduced.
Here are a few points that Dr. Matt Klitsch has noticed about people that have headaches. Generally, we can trace headaches back to three sources. Structural causes, nutritional causes, and hormonal causes or a combination of the three. To break that down even further we can say the alignment of the spine and muscles in relation to how we move. The way our body reacts to the foods and drinks we put in it. And normal fluctuations or imbalances in hormonal patterns. These three causes can lead to several different types of headaches.
- Headaches can be linked to car crashes and previous sports trauma.
When Dr. Matt Klitsch meets with his patients, It’s common that there is some underlying or past trauma. Usually, he finds that ever since a car crash or a trauma such as a fall or sports injury people experience headaches. How can this be? The spine houses the spinal cord, which is connected to the brain and every nerve in the body. When the spine shifts out of place away from normal alignment, this can cause what is known as subluxations. These subluxations, or misalignments of the spine, causing the nerves to not work properly. When that happens, it can cause various symptoms, such as headaches.
Car crashes up to 7 miles per hour can cause whiplash and lead to subluxations. These subluxations then cause different headaches that people experience. These subluxations have been known to be the cause of many people’s migraines or cervicogenic headaches – which means the headache comes from the cervical spine (neck).
- Posture is linked to headaches
People sit at desks and look at their phones constantly. This can cause the posture of the head to shift forward and what people call “text neck”. This posture has been known to be stress on the spine, nerves, and muscles. This stress can also trigger certain headaches. These headaches can be pain around the ear or feel like a tight band around the whole head. This is called a tension headache. These headaches are one of the most common I see in my office but they are also one of the quickest responding headaches to chiropractic adjustments! Usually within the first adjustment people start feeling relief.
- Stress can cause headaches
People have mental stress. Let’s face it, there is no way around that. This type of stress can then cause a headache to occur. When the body goes through mental stress, this can then cause the nerves and muscles to not work properly and “tighten up”. This happens because people hold their stress around their shoulders and the base of the neck. These stress headaches can cause headaches in the front and behind the head at the base of the skull. These tension headaches can almost feel like a question mark starting from the base of the skull wrapping around the head to sit behind the eyes
- Headaches can be linked to diet and hydration
A lot of people eat foods that will cause an increase in inflammation in the body. When inflammation occurs, this causes stress on the nerves as well. Inflammation is a normal healing process of the body. When inflammation occurs for an extended period, symptoms can then occur and some people get headaches after eating too much sugar, coffee (or lack of coffee), alcohol, chocolate, dairy, or other foods. In addition, too many people do not drink enough water. Drinking almost about 2 liters (about 64+ ounces) of water per day can lead to proper hydration and decrease the number of headaches. These headaches occur in distinct regions of the head, such as the side, front, and back of the head.
- Sinus headaches
A lot of people have headaches linked to their sinuses. When there is inflammation in the sinus, this is a sign that the body has a decreased immune system. When this occurs, the sinuses will hold the bacteria in these areas and inflammation occurs. When inflammation occurs in the sinuses, people experience pain around the eyes and forehead that mimic headache-like symptoms.
So, what is the solution?
Many people see Dr. Matt Klitsch with these problems. At Klitsch Family Chiropractic, Dr. Matt Klitsch will give a detailed exam and take X-rays. These X-rays may show that the spine – especially the cervical spine (neck) is misaligned. These misalignments also called subluxations and can cause the symptoms above. The main goal is to correct these subluxations. Dr. Matt Klitsch is advanced in specific techniques that help restore normal motion and alignment of the spine as well as reducing stress and tension placed through the muscular system. Because of the combinations of these techniques, the stress from the nerves goes away and explains why patients do not have headaches after seeing Dr. Matt Klitsch
If you experience these problems and want to see if Klitsch Family Chiropractic can help with this different and advanced approach to chiropractic, call (610) 262-8858