A Natural Headache Remedy: Chiropractic Care

A headache is a common sign from your body that something’s amiss. While some headaches turn out to be symptoms of a serious medical condition, Broken Arrow chiropractor, Dr Travis Ring, says the vast majority aren’t caused by disease, and are treatable. When people experience this type of pain, they often reach for the medicine cabinet to relieve it.But treating headaches with natural methods such as chiropractic care can lead to better long-term outcomes, because you’re addressing the underlying causes of your pain. 

What Causes Most Headaches?

If you’re suffering from a headache, any of avariety of problems may be to blame. Some people have migraine or cluster headaches, but most fall into the category of tension headaches. Stress is a big factor; it’s well known that stress creates tension in your neck and back, often causing you to clench your teeth, setting you up for head and jaw pain. Other causes include lack of adequate sleep, exercise or nutrition, certain foods, or misalignments in the neck and spine. 

The Role of the Spine in Pain

One culprit that brings on headaches is poor posture and misalignment of the spine. Many of us spend too much time hunched over our computers at work, placing strain on our spines. This poor posture leads to muscle tension in your back and neck, resulting in headaches. And the alignment of your spine is vital to having a well-functioning nervous system that carries signals efficiently between your brain and body. When your spine is misaligned, you lose mobility, leading to pain that affects many parts of your body, including headaches.

Chiropractic Care for Headaches

A chiropractor treats some of the root causes of headaches and other pain by performing specific adjustments that align the spine. These treatments relieve pain and restore mobility, helping you to break the cycle of poor-quality movement that causes muscle tension. 

Chiropractors offer a natural approach to pain relief that’s been increasingly recognized in the medical field. More and more often, chiropractors are included as part of medical teams to help patients resolve pain.  Case studies of patients with migraine headaches have shown improvement in their symptoms after chiropractic care. 

Preventing Headaches

Along with preventive chiropractic care, you can do things on your own to reduce the frequency or intensity of headaches.

Take breaks every 30-60 minutes when you work at your desk, and at least every two hours when you’re on a long drive. Walk around and stretch your muscles for a few minutes before resuming the activity.

Prevent “texting neck” by limiting the time you spend looking down at your cell phone.

Avoid sleeping on your stomach, which places stress on your head and neck.

Get some type of exercise, such as walking, every day.

Avoid clenching your teeth, which causes muscle strain leading to headaches.

Drink plenty of water. Dehydration can cause headaches.

Being proactive about addressing discomfort early with chiropractic care and other natural measures can do a lot to reduce dependence on pain medications and help you to heal naturally from headache pain.