Migraine Headache
If you suffer from migraine headaches, then you know how debilitating they can be. Most of the patients I have that suffer from migraine headaches have initially tried the medical approach which consists of various drugs that attempt to prevent attacks and/or drugs that treat the pain of the migraine during the attacks. The effectiveness of the drug approach varies, and many patients have had to “upgrade” to stronger medications when their old ones stopped working like they used to.
The good news is that the medical approach is not the only approach for the treatment of migranes. Chiropractic adjustments have shown to be effective in the treatment of the pain of migraine headaches. My patients will testify to this statement. But in addition, studies have been done to validate the effectiveness of the chiropractic adjustment.
Clinical trials have shown that spinal manipulation therapy helps migraine headache pain . In one study, 22% of those patients who were given chiropractic adjustments reported greater than a 90% reduction of attacks! 49% of patients reported significant reduction in migrane pain intensity.
A different study in which a random people from a larger study group were either given spinal adjustments, a migraine medication (the widely prescribed drug Elavil) to be taken daily, or a combination of the two. The results of this “blind” study demonstrated that spinal manipulation (adjustments) were as effective as the drug therapy in reducing migraines. In addition, there were far fewer side effects! The two therapies taken together did not provide any further relief.
Finally, nine studies were done in which spinal adjustments were provided for patients that complained of tension or migraine headaches. Chiropractic adjustments were found to be as effective as medications in preventing these headaches.
In addition to the chiropractic adjustment, I make sure the patients have been evaluated holistically. This means that in addition to treating their structure (employing chiropractic adjustments, massage therapy and physiotherapy as needed), I evaluate their body biochemisty (making dietary and nutritional recommendations as needed) and also evaluate their mental/emotional presentation (giving advice on how to manage stress).
The power of the chiropractic adjustment is amazing! The holistic approach adds to the effectiveness of treatment. Of course, if your findings on examination indicate further evaluation by another professional then an appropriate referral will be made.
