Headaches - What To Do About Them
Are you, or someone that you know- a headache statistic? "More than 47 million Americans have experienced a severe or debilitating headache in the past three months. Migraines alone affect 9% of the U.S. population and costs $1 billion a year in direct medical expenses." -Health.com
There are several types of headaches and their symptoms may differ slightly, but the fact is, they are still painful and unfortunately, often debilitating. No one likes to miss work/school/game day/family event due to a headache. Head and neck pain are one of the most common causes of a person missing out on work, fun or meaningful events and opportunities - this decreases their quality of life!
First off, I want to assure you that headaches are NOT normal. Second, I want you to know there are several solutions that may alleviate the pain and stress caused by living with headaches, without taking a drug that may be associated with other risks that only "band-aid" over the cause.
Here are a few tips to try:
Icing the temples for a few minutes will decrease the intensity of the pulse and the temperature of the blood passing through the head, providing temporary relief.
Make sure to control your blood pressure (a common cause of increased pressure in the head, causing pain and stresses the important cardiovascular supply to the brain)
Decrease sugar intake and sugary beverages (8 times more addictive than cocaine)
Increase water intake (it is often recommended to consume at least half of your bodyweight in oz. -160lb person should drink at least 80oz. of water daily...that is only 5 water bottles per day)
Vitamin/mineral regimine monitored by your doctor (vitamins and minerals are vital to our cellular health and function)
Relaxing/Breathing exercises and yoga
"Regular aerobic exercise, such as brisk walking, biking, or swimming, can reduce migraine intensity and frequency." -National Pain Foundation.
Try these three exercises:
Neck range of motion (chin forward, upward, and chin toward each shoulder)
Shoulder shrugs (shrug up, up and forward, and up and back then down)
Neck isometrics (press palm into forehead and hold; press hand on each side of the head). Performing each of these between 5-10 seconds 3 times daily can help alleviate tightness in the muscles.
If you are having headaches, the PAIN is a warning sign that something is wrong inside of your body (most commonly your neck), that you may not be aware of. The abnormal pains that you are having is a sign of biomechanical strain/stress in the spine. ONLY a Chiropractor is trained to specifically locate and fix these areas in your spine and neck. Unlike the "band-aid" tips given above, gentle and scientific chiropractic adjustments have been proven time and time again as one of the preferred methods of treatment for headaches and is supported across much of the medical community. We focus on finding the source of the problem in your body, and if spinal dysfunction-subluxation is present, we fix the problem, not mask it.
The most important information is here! Take advantage of this special offer to get on the road to living a higher quality of life!
Yours in health,
Dr. Tanner Rodriguez
