Headaches?

Nine out of 10 Americans suffer from headaches. Some are occasional, some frequent, some are dull and throbbing, and some cause debilitating pain and nausea. What do you do when you suffer from a pounding headache? Do you grit your teeth and carry on? Lie down? Pop a pill and hope the pain goes away? There is a better alternative.

What can chiropractic do?

Perform spinal manipulation or chiropractic adjustments to improve spinal function and alleviate the stress on your system.

The Office of Alternative Medicine at the National Institutes of Health published the results of a six week study at the Northwestern College of Chiropractic showing that spinal manipulation beats drugs for long-term management of headaches.

What can you do?

If you spend a large amount of time in one position, such as in front of a computer, typing or reading, take a break and stretch every 30 minutes to one hour. A study was released that during a one-hour period of time, for every 50 minutes you are in one position, you should take 10 minutes to walk around or stretch. The stretches should take your head and neck through a comfortable range of motion.

Low-impact exercise may help relieve the pain associated with primary headaches. However, if you are prone to dull, throbbing headaches, avoid heavy exercise. Engage in such activities as walking and low-impact aerobics.

Avoid teeth clenching. The upper teeth should never touch the lowers, except when swallowing. This results in stress at the temporomandibular joints (TMJ) – the two joints that connect your jaw to your skull – leading to TMJ irritation and a form of tension headaches.

Drink at least eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day to help avoid dehydration, which can lead to headaches.