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Headaches are a very common health problem affecting 25 million Americans every year. There are over 300 different types of headaches that have been categorized by neurologists and other specialists. We spend billions of dollars each year for relief. Not only is a significant percentage of the population affected on an ongoing basis, but there are also collateral risks and drawbacks. These include lost productivity, inability to get a good night’s sleep, foggy & clouded thinking, limited attention span, nervousness, irritability, and stress placed on relationships with family, friends, and co-workers.
I often hear people tell me they suffer from headaches, but they’re “normal” headaches. I’m here to tell you right now that there is no such thing as a normal headache. Headaches are common but they’re not normal. It’s like getting mugged in Central Park. That’s common but that’s not normal either. A headache is a red flag that there is something seriously wrong with your nervous system to the point that you are experiencing symptoms. Any headache, no matter how seemingly minor is abnormal and completely unacceptable. You should not tolerate this from occurring.
There are three types of stress: physical, chemical, and mental. Chemical stress includes hormonal imbalances, metabolic imbalances, toxins, and nutritional deficiencies. Mental stress includes depression, anxiety, relationship difficulties, financial difficulties, too much work piled up, etc. Physical stress includes trauma, abnormal posture, glare from excessive light, loud sounds, offensive smells, and other out-of-control sensory stimuli. All three types of stress can trigger a headache.
The most overlooked root cause of headaches, what I refer to as the “missing link” is cervical spine subluxation (misalignment of the neck vertebrae). This may be due to a car accident causing a whiplash injury, sports trauma, sitting in front of a computer for 15 years, or forward head posture. Because most doctors are not trained in the analysis and correction of vertebral misalignment, they overlook this primary cause of headaches.
The normal configuration of the cervical spine is a forward curve. When people lose this curve in their neck, it stretches the spinal cord and spinal nerves. This causes tension and stress on the central and peripheral nervous systems. Forward head posture places abnormal loads on muscles, tendons, and ligaments of the spine. Due to the force of gravity, the soft tissues must work extra hard just to keep your head upright. The muscles then become fatigued and send off pain signals which originate in the neck, but travel up into the head.
Sometimes people experience headaches because of taking headache medicine. This is sometimes known as a “rebound headache” and occurs when you build up a tolerance to the medicine. The medicine starts working against you. It can occur with both over-the-counter and prescription-strength medicine.
An accumulated toxic build-up in your body may be aggravating or directly causing your headaches. Toxins include sugar, white flour, artificial sweeteners, artificial colors, preservatives, pharmaceutical drugs, airborne pollutants, etc. The way to rid yourself of toxic build-up is to flush your system by drinking plenty of fresh water. The solution to pollution is dilution. Wash away the sludge & toxic build-up by drinking water instead of sodas, coffee, energy drinks, alcohol, and other health-robbing liquids.
If you want to live a pain-free lifestyle and be free of headaches of any kind, you must find and fix the root cause of the problem. Unfortunately, most people aren’t going this route when they get traditional medical care.
Medical doctors seek only to suppress the symptoms with specific medicines. The medicine, while perhaps effective at temporarily masking the symptoms never does get to the root of the problem. Drugs won’t fix your posture. They won’t fix spinal misalignments. They won’t rid you of the myriad of chemical, emotional, or physical stressors which trigger and perpetuate your headaches.
Instead of going with drugs, my recommendation is to go with an integrative approach, one which incorporates a clean diet, exercise, chiropractic care, and stress management. That truly is the most powerful, safe, and effective action plan for getting rid of your headaches.
Our mission is to be Pittsburgh’s top center for chronic conditions, specializing in chiropractic care and functional medicine. We provide innovative, non-invasive treatments that address root causes, helping patients achieve lasting wellness.
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