Natural Medicine & Rehabilitation offers many treatment options to help prevent, reduce and stop headaches. Headaches are one of the most common complaints that bring a person to a healthcare provider.
What causes your headaches? Headache triggers are detected by centers within the brain. These centers control many vital body processes: sleep/wake cycle, hunger, hormone and involuntary nervous system regulation. Chemical messengers are released in response to your personal triggers. These chemicals produce a number of body responses. The most significant to headache is the dramatic effect to the blood vessels in the head, face and neck and to the neuronal activity in the brain. These vascular changes appear to be instrumental in the altered brain activity of those with migraine type of headache. Depending on which vessels and areas of the head and brain are most affected, headache and the associated symptoms of headache occur such as pain, nausea, visual and vestibular symptoms. The more triggers one is exposed to, the greater the headache!
A quick fix (using migraine medications, aspirin, ibuprofen and acetaminophen) generally works by creating various affects on blood vessels within the head or the neuronal activity within the brain. When used frequently many of these medications can create rebound headaches. Rebound headaches are typically even stronger headaches and create a vicious cycle of increased frequency & intensity!
Chronic sinus problems, allergies, poor posture, neck problems, a lack of exercise and un-tempered stress all contribute to your threshold to headaches. Tension headaches are caused by muscle contractions in the head and neck regions. A variety of foods, activities, and stressors can cause these types of contractions. Natural Medicine & Rehabilitation manages these problems through clinical nutrition, rehabilitation & therapeutic lifestyle changes to significantly improve your threshold to headaches.
Acupuncture can provide drug-free relief for people suffering from headaches & migraines with virtually no side-effects. Acupuncture stimulates the nervous system to release pain-relieving chemicals & hormones. These chemicals are the body’s natural painkillers!
Biofeedback Therapy can reduce or eliminate the need for medications or may be an option when medications haven’t worked well. Stress is one of the main triggers that can bring on a headache or migraine. When you are stressed your forehead muscles frown and tighten, jaw muscles tighten and clench and your shoulder muscles hunch and tighten. Biofeedback sensors on these muscles can show how your body responds to stress. Biofeedback therapy gives you instant feedback and helps you develop the ability to recognize and reduce stress & muscle tension to help prevent, reduce and stop a headache!
Our doctors will also look at your nutritional habits to see if food may be contributing to the headache and migraine pain you are experiencing. Optimizing nutrition and hydration is critical to reduce cravings, improve energy, lose weight, prevent illness, reduce inflammation, and symptoms of disease.
Learning healthy lifestyle behaviors and increasing your awareness of things that cause physical stress and physical pain like bracing/guarding, poor posture, and improper lifting will enhance your results. Chiropractic adjustments are very effective for treating tension headaches, especially headaches that originate in the neck. Therapeutic Massage is used to apply pressure to soft tissue effecting changes by relaxing contracted muscles, increasing circulation and improving range of motion by stimulating the stretch reflex of muscles and overlying fascia (connective tissue).
Natural Medicine & Rehabilitation offers many treatment options to help prevent, reduce and stop a headache. We also have a Workplace Wellness lecture on Headaches that we offer to local corporations to help educate their employees on preventative healthcare. Call 908-252-0242 for a free new patient consultation or to set up an Employee Workplace Wellness Program.
