Headaches will affect 96% of the world at least once in their lifetime, making it a universal health concern. The pain associated with headaches varies widely in terms of intensity, frequency, and associated symptoms. Some headaches are mild and short-lived, while others are recurrent and extremely discomforting, such as migraines or cluster headaches.
Headaches can be broadly classified into two types: primary headaches, which have no specific underlying condition, and secondary headaches, which are symptoms of another disorder or disease. Examples of primary headaches are migraines, cluster headaches, and tension-type headaches.
Conventional medicine options for the treatment of headaches revolve around the use of painkillers, like NSAIDs, acetaminophen, and even opioids. Pain medications offer temporary relief from headaches but often come with risks if used for extended periods. Long-term use can lead to medication-overuse headaches and increase the risk of gastrointestinal and cardiovascular complications.
Chiropractic care is an alternative and functional medicine treatment option for managing headaches that emphasizes a natural, medication-free strategy. Chiropractic targets the nervous system through techniques such as spinal manipulation and the Gonstead method aiming to restore balance and support natural healing processes in the body. Chiropractic has fewer side effects and can provide effective relief for various headache types, including migraines and tension headaches.
In this article, we will consider the chiropractic treatment for headaches, as well as the other important details about headaches that help in their management, such as their different types and causes.
What Are the Classifications of Headaches?
Headaches are classified mainly into primary and secondary headaches, depending on guidelines from the International Headache Society. Primary headaches, like migraines, tension-type, and cluster headaches, occur independently without an underlying cause. Secondary headaches, on the other hand, result from other conditions, such as trauma or infection.
Headache pain may present in different ways although the common symptom of all headaches is pain in the head region. The difference in pain may be in severity, location, onset, and even other symptoms associated with the pain. These differences are essential in the management of the headache, as they help the healthcare provider better understand the potential cause of the headache and guide their treatment plan.
The International Headache Society has a document known as the International Classification of Headache Disorders (ICHD) that contains different guidelines for classifying headaches. The ICHD classification of headaches depends primarily on the characteristics of individual headaches. We can broadly classify headaches into primary and secondary from this document.
Primary Headaches
A primary headache has no clear underlying cause. Therefore, they are disorders by themselves. Primary headaches make up the vast majority of all headache disorders, and they can be further subdivided based on their duration and frequency.
Basically, a headache is a short-duration headache if it lasts less than 4 hours. Headache episodes that exceed 4 hours are referred to as long-duration headaches. Headaches that affect an individual for more than 15 days a month are known as chronic headaches, while those that occur for less than 15 days are called episodic headaches.
Below are some of the common examples of primary headaches.
- Migraine headaches: Migraines are severe headaches (usually long-duration) that cause throbbing pain, typically on one side of the head. Migraine headache is ranked as the third most prevalent disorder worldwide and also the third highest cause of disability in the world.
- Tension-type headaches: Tension headaches are typically episodic and characterized by dull, mild- to moderate-intensity pressure pain affecting both sides of the head. Tension headaches are by far the most common headache disorder, affecting 8 in 10 people in the general population.
- Cluster headaches: Cluster headaches are short-duration headaches that affect one side of the head, marked by severely intense pain. Cluster headaches may occur up to 8 times a day and are often accompanied by other symptoms like increased tearing, nasal congestion or discharge, and eye problems.
Secondary Headaches
A secondary headache develops due to another condition or disorder. Some of the conditions responsible for secondary headaches include trauma, infection, or overusing abortive or analgesic medications. Secondary headaches are not as common, but recognizing them and identifying their underlying causes is often life-saving.
What Are the Causes of Headaches?
Headaches are caused by various factors, depending on their type. Primary headaches may arise from triggers like poor diet, dehydration, and stress. Secondary headaches result from underlying conditions, including bacterial infections (e.g., meningitis), trauma, drug abuse, and injuries like whiplash.
The brain itself does not have pain-sensitive nerves and does not feel pain, but these pain-sensitive nerves are present all around the head. A primary headache may arise when these nerves are triggered. Some of these triggers are:
- Poor diet
- Dehydration
- Irregular sleep pattern
- Weather changes
- Stress
Secondary headaches can be caused by:
- Bacterial infections (like meningitis)
- Trauma
- Whiplash
- Vascular disorders
- Pain medication overuse
- Substance abuse
- Psychiatric disorders
What Are the Risks of Conventional Medicine Treatment of Headaches?
The risks of conventional medicine treatment of headaches include gastrointestinal bleeding, liver damage, cardiovascular issues, and even worsening headaches. Conventional medicine generally uses painkillers such as NSAIDs (aspirin, diclofenac, ibuprofen) and paracetamol. Alternative headache medications like antidepressants or opioids can also bring serious side effects. Long-term reliance on these medications can lead to further health complications.
9000 years ago, health practitioners used to drill holes in the skull to treat headaches in a procedure known as trepanation. Today, health practitioners don’t drill skulls for headaches again, but conventional treatment options may still be frustratingly ineffective. On the other hand, the very effective ones may not be as safe. What do we mean?
Analgesic medications always bring safety concerns, especially when managing chronic headaches, and this is evidenced by the occurrence of medication overuse headaches. Aside from the risk of worsening headaches, there are also a variety of side effects associated with medication use, which is an inherent problem with all medications.
For analgesics (pain relief medications), non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are the most common option. NSAIDs include ibuprofen (Advil), diclofenac (Voltaren), and acetylsalicylic acid (Aspirin). However, their possible side effects are gastrointestinal bleeding, indigestion, drowsiness, diarrhea, constipation, and – you wouldn’t guess this – headaches.
Another common analgesic is paracetamol (Tylenol). Paracetamol can cause serious damage to the liver, as well as stomach disturbances and pain. There is also evidence published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology that paracetamol can affect the cardiovascular system, promoting conditions like hypertension.
Antiepileptics, antidepressants, and local anesthetics may also be used aside from analgesics. Using other classes of medications aside from painkillers also introduces further side effects. It is not unnatural for healthcare providers to turn to stronger analgesics when regular analgesics don’t work.
Examples of stronger analgesics are opioids, which bear even more serious health risks. Therefore, relying on medications for recurrent and chronic headaches can be very problematic in the long run despite their popularity and convenience.
Headache Chiropractic Treatment
Chiropractic is a branch of functional medicine that focuses on the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of neuromusculoskeletal system disorders. Chiropractic care is usually done by considering the relationship between the central nervous system (the brain and the spine) and the musculoskeletal system (bones, muscles, ligaments, and tendons).
Frequently, the pain and other discomforting symptoms of musculoskeletal disorders can be traced to an imbalance in the nervous system. Chiropractors try to rectify this by restoring balance to the nervous system and then allowing the body to heal naturally.
However, there are questions on whether it is any good or another corporate scheme to prey on the pockets of patients, as is to be expected of any treatment option. Plus, even if it is any good, does it have any benefits over conventional, established treatment plans? Let’s find out.
What Are the Benefits of Chiropractic Treatment of Headaches?
Chiropractic treatment for headaches is beneficial as it avoids medication-related side effects, like stomach ulcers from NSAIDs. The safety benefit of chiropractic stems from it being non-pharmacological and natural. Another benefit of chiropractic is its effectiveness, proven effective for reducing headache symptoms.
Here are some of the benefits of chiropractic treatment for headaches.
Safe
Chiropractic treatment is natural and does not rely on medications to promote healing, which greatly improves the safety scores of this treatment option. One of the biggest issues with using medications for headache disorders is the risk of side effects. Some side effects are mild but others can be severe and even potentially life-threatening.
A classic example is the damage to the stomach lining (ulcers) associated with long-term NSAID (like ibuprofen, diclofenac, and aspirin) use. However, chiropractic avoids serious side effects. There may still be some side effects of the treatment, but they are usually mild to moderate and very rarely long-lasting.
Effective
Chiropractic treatment can improve different types of headaches, including migraines, according to research by Dr. Roland Bryans. Guidelines Development Committee Chair and Chiropractor from Canada. The only feature that is arguably as important as safety when talking about a treatment option is its effectiveness.
So, it’s not enough for a treatment option to be safe; it has to work as well, and chiropractic works very well. Of course, there are some guidelines to follow as regards the type, duration, and frequency of the chiropractic treatments applied, but the bottom line is that they work.
Diagnosis
Headache diagnosis involves collecting relevant information on the onset, intensity, and duration of headaches, as well as the patient’s sensitivity to light, sounds, or odors. Chiropractors may then conduct physical exams and may request blood, urine, MRI, or CT tests to identify underlying causes and provide an accurate diagnosis.
Diagnosing a headache is actually a more complex process than you may imagine. More than 150 diagnostic headache categories have been established right now. The goal of diagnosis is to be as specific as possible in characterizing the headache.
Typically, chiropractors start by gathering information on the history and characteristics of the headache. The relevant data revolves around when the headaches started, the time of the day they started, their intensity and duration, sensitivity to light, odors, or sounds, and other symptoms and activities associated with the headache.
Chiropractors may physically examine you after this initial diagnostic exercise. Then, chiropractors may order certain lab tests, including blood and urine tests, to rule out or identify conditions that may be responsible for your headaches. Radiological tools may be employed, and you may have to get magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or computed tomography (CT) tests If there is still no clear diagnosis,
Headache Chiropractic Treatment Techniques
Spinal manipulation and the Gonstead method are two of the most typical techniques chiropractors use in the management of headaches. There is substantial evidence from studies by Southern California University of Health Sciences, Whittier, CA, USA, that chiropractic treatment for headaches is effective and safe.
Chiropractic is usually guided by chiropractic manipulative therapy, which is standard when addressing head and neck pain. Spinal manipulation has consistently shown positive results in managing headaches of the different techniques under chiropractic manipulative therapy
Spinal manipulation involves applying force to a joint in the spine to restore balance and allow the body to complete the healing process. Spinal manipulation takes advantage of the relationship between the central nervous system (the spine and the brain) and the rest of the body, including the nerves frequently associated with headaches. Studies from the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics also portray spinal manipulation as a recommended intervention in the management of migraines.
The Gonstead method is another chiropractic manipulative therapy with promising results in the management of headaches. Gonstead involves high-speed, low-amplitude thrust motions to realign the target joint and may be associated with a popping sound.
Chiropractors may advise on lifestyle and dietary changes that can help manage headaches. Patients are also informed of the potential triggers of headaches and the steps that can help manage these triggers.
Finding a Chiropractor
Chiropractic has proven to be safe and effective in the management of headaches. However, the benefits of chiropractic for headaches can only be reaped at the hands of a chiropractor with experience and expertise in headache management. This is where we come in. We have decades of experience and the right medical and academic qualifications to provide a personalized and holistic treatment plan for the management of your headaches.
If you live in Panama City and its surrounding areas and you want this quality of service, give us a call at the Bay Clinic of Chiropractic.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are Medications Safe for Headaches?
Medications can pose a safety risk when used for chronic cases or in very high doses. The risk of adverse effects with medications is not high at normal doses for occasional purposes. However, the health risks associated with medications start to increase with chronic headaches that may last months and may affect the gastrointestinal and cardiovascular systems.
Can Chiropractic Prevent Headaches?
No, chiropractic cannot prevent headaches. However, chiropractic can educate patients on preventative strategies for headaches, which usually mean avoiding common triggers, sleeping well, managing stress, and staying hydrated. These preventive strategies do not apply to all headaches, though, and you may still get a headache, especially in the event of secondary headaches.
Is There a Cure for Headaches?
No, there is no cure for headaches, although different treatment options exist to reduce the frequency and severity of headaches. So, you can still get headaches after chiropractic treatment. However, with the right treatment, like chiropractic, it is possible to manage headaches and their occurrence in a safe and effective manner.
How Can Chiropractic Treat Headaches?
Chiropractors treat headaches by using chiropractic techniques like spinal manipulation and the Gonstead method to restore nervous system balance. These techniques can reduce tension and improve blood flow to the head, which are both important in treating headache symptoms. Additionally, chiropractors offer relevant advice and guidance on lifestyle adjustments to prevent headache triggers.
What Are the Most Common Types of Headaches?
Tension-type headaches are the most common types of headaches, affecting about 80% of people at some point in their lives. Migraines are also common and can be severely disabling. Cluster headaches are less common but extremely intense.
Conclusion
Headaches can have significant health impacts and severely affect quality of life. Conventional treatments may offer temporary relief, but these treatments often come with undesirable side effects. Chiropractic treatment is a promising alternative treatment option that focuses on natural ways to manage and prevent headaches.
Chiropractic treatment is usually done through different chiropractic techniques and the right management principles that can address the root cause of the headaches. Contact the Bay Clinic of Chiropractic today if you’re looking for such a holistic approach to headache relief. Dr. Tony Salameh is our lead chiropractor and he is experienced in the management of several neuromusculoskeletal conditions, including headaches.
You can reach us at (850) 785-9372 or through our email info@thebaydoctor.com.
References
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