Headache & Migraine

Pain relievers of various types are the most common approach to headaches. In our practice, we adopt a more natural approach. Our objective is to identify the underlying source and reduce the symptoms  of a headache.

Recent studies have shown that the majority of headaches are caused by the neck as a result of abnormal spinal alignment and abnormal postures. This occurs most commonly from the loss of the normal lordosis or cervical curve and forward head posture.
This curve is designed to give your neck strength, as well as keep mechanical tension off your spinal cord. When there is abnormal spinal alignment, the muscles and ligaments work overtime to compensate for the spinal weakness, resulting in muscle spasms that cause headaches.
This causes a tremendous amount of tension and stretching on the surrounding tissue muscles, ligaments, arteries and nerves with additional tension through your jaw and head. The muscle group in the back of the neck, the front of the neck and the upper chest can create a pattern that causes pressure and pain. These issues can be resolved with proper treatment from the American Spinal Clinic.

Types

Tension headaches

Tension headaches include dull pain, tightness or pressure around your forehead or the back of your head and neck. Some people say it feels like a clamp squeezing the skull. Often called stress headaches, they’re the most common type for adults.

Migraine

This condition is accompanied by intense headaches. These headaches are often described as pounding, throbbing pain. They can last from 4 hours to 3 days and usually happen one to four times per month. Along with the pain, people have other symptoms, such as sensitivity to light, noise or smells; nausea or vomiting; loss of appetite; and upset stomach or belly pain.

Cluster headaches

This type is intense and feels like a burning or piercing pain behind or around one eye, either throbbing or constant. On the side of the pain, the eyelid droops, the eye reddens, pupil gets smaller or the eye weeps. The nostril on that side runs or becomes stuffys. They’re called “cluster headaches” because they tend to happen in groups. Cluster headaches affect men 3-4 times more often than women.

Sinus headaches

With these, you feel a deep and constant pain in your cheekbones, forehead or bridge of your nose. They happen when cavities in your head, called sinuses, become inflamed. The pain usually comes along with other sinus symptoms, such as a runny nose, feeling of fullness in the ears, fever and swelling in your face. A true sinus headache is from a sinus infection so the nasal discharge is yellow or green, unlike the clear discharge in cluster or migraine headaches.

Hormone headaches

Women can get headaches from changing hormone levels during their periods, pregnancy and menopause. The hormone changes from birth control pills may also trigger headaches in some women.