Who Gets Headaches & Migraines?

According the World Health Organization, “globally it has been estimated that 50% of adults currently have a headache disorder (symptomatic at least once within the last year). Half to three quarters of adults aged 18-65 years in the world have had a headache in the last year and, among those individuals, 30% or more have reported a migraine.”

Fast Headache Relief

Frequently patients with chronic headaches report that their pain stems from the neck or base of their skull. The pain will often arise on one side of the base of the skull and extend to the temple or across the forehead. These are termed cervicogenic headaches.

According to the American Migraine Foundation when the occipital nerves are inflamed or irritated, they act as “major on-ramps to the superhighway upon which the pain signal travels which produce migraines and other types of headaches.” Occipital nerve blocks work by blocking the pain signal to alleviate the headache.

How Long Does An Occipital Procedure Take?

Occipital nerve blocks are a quick and fairly simple procedure done in the outpatient setting that only takes about 2-3 minutes. While performing an occipital nerve block we will use a small needle to inject local anesthetic into the area surrounding the nerves. The procedure is relatively painless; however, some may feel temporary discomfort with the infusion of the solution. The patient should have no problem driving afterwards and can carry on with their day per usual.

How Long Does The Headache Relief Last?

Often patients will feel the pain relief immediately following the procedure; however, it can take up to 15 minutes. The duration of pain relief varies widely from person to person and can last anywhere from a day to months.
Complications from occipital nerve blocks are rare. Patients may experience temporary numbness over the regions supplied by the occipital nerves as they are sensory nerves but very quickly, the pain of a headache will subside.

If you are suffering from chronic headaches or migraines schedule a consult with our Physician Assistant today! 480-892-0022

If you suffer from headaches, we can can help you.  Chiropractic care and headache relief are not two things that are often thought of as being related, but they really should be. Many people don't realize that many types of headaches are in fact a secondary symptom caused by a different underlying cause. In many cases a headache is due to a misalignment of the bones in the patient's neck or back.

The most common type of  headaches are tension headache. Tensions headaches are often caused by subluxations in the neck and back of a patient which put pressure on nerves.  Many times a tension headache is mistaken for a migraine, but they are actually quite different from each other. A tension headache often centers behind the eyes, while a migraine is usually on one side of the head or the other.

The good news for tension headache sufferers is that of the many types of headaches that people suffer from, tension headaches are the headaches that have shown to respond best to chiropractic care. Chiropractic care focuses on using adjustments to correct the misalignment of the neck and spine, which means that it actually treats the root cause of the problem. Prolonged care from an experienced Chiropractor can often provide patients who suffer from tension headaches the long-term relief that they have been looking for. But what about migraines?

According to the Mayo Clinic website: "A migraine can cause severe throbbing pain or a pulsing sensation, usually on just one side of the head. It's often accompanied by nausea, vomiting, and extreme sensitivity to light and sound."

Migraine attacks can cause significant pain for hours to days and can be so severe that the pain is disabling. Warning symptoms known as aura may occur before or with the headache. These can include flashes of light, blind spots, or tingling on one side of the face or in your arm or leg. Though migraine causes aren't understood, genetics and environmental factors appear to play a role.

What Types of Headaches Can Chiropractic Help With

While chiropractic care is most beneficial for tension headaches, it has also been shown to provide at least some level of relief from migraines and cluster headaches as well. While the underlying cause of these types of headaches differs from tension headaches, the same subluxations that cause tension headaches can be a factor for migraines and cluster headaches.

While chiropractic care cannot stop cluster headaches or migraine headaches, it can often help patients to control the amount of pain that they are experiencing.

Your body is a wondrous, interconnected system. A visit to your chiropractor can help your system run at its best. We can relieve pain, help you recover after an auto accident, and so much more.

Don't suffer with headaches any longer than you have to. Call us today and get headache relief fast.