Do you suffer from headaches or do you know someone who does?
The head is the most common site of pain in the body. It may be throbbing, squeezing, constant, unrelenting or intermittent.
A headache, like any pain in the body, is a sign that something isn’t right.
Research has shown that chiropractic adjustments can help the brain to accurately see and feel what is going on in the body. This may help in the prevention of headaches.
Research
Results show that chiropractic care does help some people with headaches and migraines.
One study published in 2000 looked at 127 people suffering migraines (Tuchin et al. 2000). They compared two months of chiropractic with no care at all. After two months the chiropractic group improved with all outcomes.
1 in 5 people with migraines found that they nearly resolved completely.
Results of this study suggest that a large number of migraine sufferers may respond to chiropractic care.
Another study (Haas et al. 2010) was conducted in 2010 on “chronic cervicogenic headaches”, these are the tension type headaches that often present as a pain or tightness across the forehead or at the back of the head. The researchers compared 8 weeks of chiropractic (either once or twice a week) with 8 weeks of light massage. They looked at pain scales, frequency of headache and medication use.
The chiropractic care group improved significantly compared with the ‘control group’ receiving massage. All pain and disability scores improved and some pain scores even improved for 24 weeks until the last follow-up. The chiropractic group also used less medication. A small benefit was seen with increased frequency. The conclusion was that people are 3 times more likely to have a significant improvement in headache when using chiropractic as a treatment, compared with light massage.
Disclaimer: I still believe that massage is a great adjunct to chiropractic care and will continue my 4-6 weekly massages along with my monthly chiropractic adjustments!
Published research from the video:
Tuchin, Peter J. et al. A randomized controlled trial of chiropractic spinal manipulative therapy for migraine. Journal of Manipulative & Physiological Therapeutics , Volume 23 , Issue 2 , 91 – 95
, , , , . Dose response and efficacy of spinal manipulation for chronic cervicogenic headache: a pilot randomization controlled trial. The Spine Journal 2010;10:117–28