chronic-headaches-chiropractic-care-can-helpAre you among the 90% of Americans who suffer from headaches? If so, what do you do when you feel a headache coming on? For occasional mild headaches, popping a pill and going on with your day may be a feasible approach. However, if you suffer from frequent pounding headaches – a chronic condition that affects around 45 million Americans – you may be tempted to simply lie down and abandon your responsibilities until the pain subsides.

Fortunately, there’s a better approach to chronic headaches: seek chiropractic care at Spine Correction Center of the Rockies. Spinal manipulation and other chiropractic techniques can treat tension headaches and pain that originates in the neck. Your treatment may reduce the number of headaches you get and decrease their severity.

Considering Headache Triggers

Before you can hope to stop a headache in its tracks, it’s helpful to know the reasons behind your pain:

  • Lifestyle triggers: Many headaches stem from stress, the food you eat, exposure to bright lights or loud noises, lack of sleep, blood sugar fluctuations, and other triggers. If you’re prone to chronic headaches, try to nail down what you’re sensitive to so you can avoid these triggers and prevent headaches.
  • Muscle tension: A majority of headaches (about 80%) are associated with muscle tension in the neck. Sitting for a long time in a fixed position – such as while watching TV, sewing, reading, or working at the computer – can lead to increased muscle tension and joint irritation, which causes your head to ache.
  • Underlying medical conditions: A whopping 95% of headaches are primary headaches, meaning they’re not associated with a disease. However, the remaining 5% are warning signals of underlying medical conditions. Even though the odds are slim, it’s worth having a medical professional at Spine Correction Center check out your chronic headaches to make sure nothing more serious is happening under the surface.

How to Prevent Headaches

Whether your pain is chronic or intermittent, the American Chiropractic Association suggests these tips to prevent headaches:

  • When sitting in a fixed position for a long time, take a break every hour to gently stretch your neck and back.
  • Engage in low-impact exercises, such as walking and water aerobics, to help relieve pain from primary headaches. Avoid heavy exercise if you’re prone to dull, throbbing headaches.
  • Avoid clenching your jaw. The only time your upper and lower teeth should touch is when you’re eating. If you grind your teeth at night, wear a mouth guard while you sleep to help prevent TMJ irritation and tension headaches.
  • Drink plenty of water every day to avoid dehydration, which can cause headaches. Keep a water bottle with you and sip from it regularly throughout the day.

How a Chiropractor Can Help

The chiropractors at Spine Correction Center have experience helping patients like you who suffer from chronic headaches. Here are some of the services we provide:

  • Chiropractic care: Gentle spinal adjustments, disc decompression, vibrational traction, and other chiropractic techniques improve spinal health and function. We strive to restore proper spinal curvature and body mechanics to relax tense muscles and reduce excessive strain on your neck and back.
  • Lifestyle adjustments: The spinal manipulation we perform in our office will have a more lasting impact if you make certain changes at home. We’ll offer advice on ergonomic adjustments you can make along with exercises and relaxation techniques you can perform at home between chiropractic visits.
  • Nutritional advice: We can help you identify dietary triggers that may contribute to your chronic headaches. We’ll recommend changes and suggest adding foods high in B-complex vitamins to improve your health.

Visit Spine Correction Center for Chronic Headache Relief

When you visit Spine Correction Center for headache treatment, you’ll have access to several effective, non-invasive treatment methods. We’ll rule out the possibility of a dangerous underlying medical condition and tackle the primary cause of your pain head on.

If you’re ready to stop living with constant headache pain, please contact Spine Correction Center in Fort Collins at (970) 658-5115 to schedule your free consultation.