Treating Migraines Naturally

Say you are an individual in your 30’s and have been suffering from migraines since you were a teenager. Sounds frustrating, doesn’t it? Well for many individuals, this is a reality that they have to deal with. Many people resort to different methods like exercises, medications and even surgeries. These different treatments may or may not work for these individuals. If you know someone like this or you yourself suffer from migraines, consider treating migraines naturally by giving chiropractic a chance.

Storytime…

This week, we are going to talk about a patient who has been under care at Wilkins Spinal Care for a few months. The patient is a female in her mid-30s who has been suffering from migraines since she was a young teenager. She was getting migraines 3-4 times a week and sometimes, restricted her to her bed with lights off and nothing but silence. As she got older, she thought maybe her migraines would mysteriously stop as she read online before, but that was not the case. Her migraines reduced in frequency a little bit, but not clinically enough to say she was better.

She has tried many different techniques and remedies that she found online to help reduce the frequency and intensity of her migraines, but nothing helped. She even tried different medications which still did not help. When she presented to our office, our primary goal was to eliminate her migraines and give her the health she desired. In order to do that, we put her on a 20-visit treatment plan and had her report to the office 2-3 times a week for about six weeks. After just one adjustment and some trigger point therapy on the base of her skull, she reported back the next day that her migraine was absent. For the next 3 visits she reported with no migraine until she felt one coming on again. We adjusted her again and the same thing occurred.

She became an active patient at our office August of 2019 and is still a current patient to this day. From time to time, her neck needs adjusted, but she has never had a full-blown migraine since she started her care. She even cancelled an appointment to have a Botox injection in her neck to stop migraines.

Now, I don’t know about you, but this is a classic chiropractic success story. Someone who has been suffering from migraines half their life and miraculously one day after a few chiropractic adjustments they are gone. It truly is a miracle!

Why is Chiropractic the Best Route to Take?

Alongside neck and back pain, migraines/headaches are the third most common cause of individuals visiting the chiropractic. Why are chiropractors so successful at treating migraines? We have stated several times in the past that the nervous system controls everything that we do: walk, talk, eat, breathe, etc. Without the nervous system, we would not survive. That being said, the nervous system is also the cause of pain and inflammation throughout the entire body. Dysfunction in the nervous system results in inflamed muscles or stress within the cervical spine and/or upper back causing migraines/headaches. The most important thing to note is that a chiropractor will provide a very specific adjustment to remove nerve interference and allow the nervous system to function at full capacity, removing migraines. Most patients no matter if they have daily migraines or occasional migraines will start to see a reduction in how many they get or are eliminated altogether.

Let’s briefly discuss other things chiropractors will do other than the chiropractic adjustment to help remove migraines. Many migraines/headaches are caused by poor posture. Most individuals in today’s society have slouched stance causing their shoulders to rule forward and their head jutted out forward. This forward head posture causes muscles at the back of the head to spasm because they are being overused causing moderate to severe headaches. Chiropractors will also teach correct posture and give postural exercises alongside adjustments to prevent forward head posture and migraines.

Another service that chiropractors may offer is nutritional advice. Many foods we eat/drink, and ingredients put in foods can trigger migraines. With special qualifications, many chiropractors will offer advice on what foods will keep you healthy and what foods to avoid. They will track your progress to see not only see the frequency reduction of migraines, but they will also note improvements with your health and reduced inflammation on the nervous system.

What Does Wilkins Spinal Care Have to Offer?

Over the past 45 years, Wilkins Spinal Care has seen thousands of patients present to the office with migraines. Some cases have been more severe than others, but not one case has failed in seeing improvements. Dr. Wilkins and staff have seen patients with chronic migraines that have been suffering for years, and after one adjustment, symptoms have reduced 50% or more!

So, what do we do differently than other chiropractors? We perform a thorough examination to figure out the root of the problem by performing a series of test including a surface EMG to show areas of inflammation, cervical x-rays to show postural analysis and dysfunction to the anatomy, video fluoroscopy to show the patients the exact areas of reduced mobility and curvature of the cervical spine and a cervical examination to check for any neurological deficits.

Once a thorough examination has been performed, we will provide a specific adjustment to the cervical spine using a drop piece mechanism to remove nerve interference and increase mobility in the cervical spine. We also perform trigger points along the cervical spine and base of the skull to reduce inflammation along the musculature, therefore, reducing migraines. Over 50% of patients adjusted for migraines see either a reduction or elimination in migraine symptoms just after one visit!

Wilkins Spinal Care also offers a nutrition service called Science Based Nutrition (SBN). SBN is a nutritional system that offers nutritional support and helps manage acute/chronic conditions and reduces inflammation giving individuals a healthier lifestyle. For more information about any of our services, please feel free to reach out to our office at (724) 547-3377 or visit our website at www.drlarrywilkinsspinalcare.com.