Can chiropractic care help with my headaches?

Headaches play a significant role in a person's quality of life and are one of the most common complaints chiropractors see. This comes as no surprise, as one survey reported 16.6 percent of adults regularly suffer from migraines or other severe headaches. Another study reported that head pain was the fifth leading cause of emergency room visits in the United States and accounted for 1.2 percent of all outpatient visits. These statistics are even worse for females (18-44 years old), where the occurrence rate is 26.1 percent and the third leading cause for E.R. visits.

Because of the significant potential side effects of medications, many headache sufferers turn to non-medication treatment - such as chiropractic care - to manage tension-type headaches.

Posture plays a key role in the onset and persistence these types of headaches. If there is such a thing as “perfect posture,” it might look something like this: the feet would flair slightly outwards symmetrically, the inside arch of the feet would allow enough space for an index finger to creep under to the first joint, the ankles would line up with the shin bones, the knees would slightly “knock” inwards and hips would line up squarely with the pelvis. The shoulders would be level, the arms would hang freely and not be pronated (rolled) inwards. Most importantly for headache prevention, the head would be level and not be tilted forward. For every inch the head shifts forward, it essentially gains 10 pounds in weight, which the upper back and neck muscles have to counter balance.

This altered posture can add up to 30 pounds of abnormal weight to the neck and can pull the entire spine out of alignment. It can also reduce the lung's vital capacity by 30 percent, which can contribute to all sorts of breathing-impaired health problems. Think of carrying a 30-pound watermelon around your neck all day – the muscle pain from fatigue would be tremendous! Left uncorrected, chronic neck pain and headaches are likely to develop due to the pinching off the top three nerves in the neck. An increased rate of mortality of 1.44 is reportedly associated with this faulty posture.

Between chiropractic adjustments, posture retraining exercises and other postural corrective care, and strength exercise training, a licensed chiropractor can help you correct your faulty posture so that neck pain and headaches stop and don't progress into a chronic, permanent condition.