Migraine headaches are debilitating!
If you suffer with them, you know you’ll do just about anything to make the pain stop.
The good news is that while consumers spend over $17 billion to treat migraines and headaches, you don’t have to be one of them.
Patients who get regular chiropractic adjustments report having up to 90% less migraine episodes. Additionally, the headaches they do get are shorter in duration and less severe.
Chiropractic also offers you the opportunity to become less reliant on migraine medication. With regular spinal manipulation, my patients often report that they spend less time sleeping off a migraine and migraine medication.
Instead, the quality of their lives dramatically improves. They spend more time doing what they love!
Regular chiropractic adjustments can change the quality of your life, and so can dietary changes. Hand in hand with regular spinal manipulation, I have also found 11 migraine triggers, some are dietary; some are not:
- At the top of the list are tyramine & phenylrthylamine, which are found in either fermented cheese or chocolate, soy, citrus or nuts. I encourage my patients to avoid these.
- If you do eat foods with tyramine but don’t notice any problems until the next day, it could be your leftovers. Foods with tyramine stored in your refrigerator become more potent with it. This can trigger a migraine. Be watchful!
- Perfumes can cause an attack, even the simplest scents.
- Love wine? Unfortunately, alcohol is a potential trigger. Because it’s dehydrating, make sure to drink water in between each glass you consume.
- Nitrates are deadly for migraine sufferers! A preservative, you’ll find them in hot dogs, deli meats, jerky, pickled or cured meats.
- Sulfites, also a preservative, are hidden in processed foods, but also occur in wine and dried fried fruits like apricots, prunes and figs.
- Eye strain—When reading for long stretches of time, give your eyes a break.
- If you’re wearing glasses but find that you squint a lot, it’s time to visit the eye doctor. The wrong prescription lenses can cause migraines.
- A menstrual migraine is more painful and harder to get rid of. Your doctor may prescribe a preventative medication, which is understandable. But do get regular spinal adjustments. Let’s see if we can get you less dependent on the drug.
- A change in the atmospheric pressure can cause your head to explode.
- And, of course, stress. Don't eat any of the foods mentioned on this list when you're experiencing a lot of stress.
Be mindful of your lifestyle and see if avoiding any of the above makes a difference.
But What if Avoidance Isn't Enough and You Still Get Regular, Debilitating Migraines?
Nearly 20% of patients experiencing chronic headache pain have cervicogenic headaches. That 
means the pain is actually coming from your neck. In fact, the neck will hurt as well as the head.
Although cervicogenic headaches act like tension or migraine headaches, the pain is actually caused as a result of of injury or some other trauma. A car accident would be a good example of a cervicogenic headache.
The patient’s range of motion is seriously compromised and substantially impacts quality of life. Chiropractic is a good fit for this kind of impairment as well.
As with all my new chiropractic patients, I will give you a thorough exam and will take x-rays to determine if your headache is actually an impairment in your neck. Then we will work together to get your neck back in alignment again.
Whether you suffer from stress headaches or cervicogenic headaches, set up an appointment to talk with me. I’ve been successfully treating headaches and migraines in Staunton, VA for over 20 years.
Let me be your partner in health so that you can have a lot more good days than bad days without relying on medication! Call us today: 540-886-5500
Next: How Chiropractic Can Help Manage Fibromyalgia Symptoms