There are many types of headaches. Is yours the dull pain that comes from a tension headache, or is it the forceful pounding, throbbing, and nausea from a migraine? Getting good headache treatment starts with identifying which type of headache you have.
Types Of Headaches
There are three main types of tension headaches -type, cluster, and migraine.
Many structures changes, and sense pain, particularly tension in muscles. However, the brain itself has no pain and also you have a headache as the surrounding tissues report their discomfort.
Tension headaches result from straining muscles that cover your skull, or your face or neck muscles. They might also occur when the blood vessels that circulates in your mind, face, and open. Exercise stress, and medication are a few things that could make your blood vessels open and provide you with a short-term tension headache.
Headache pain from tension headaches comes on gradually, and after that clears up in a number of hours. Just in case your tension headaches are severe or occur, you should see your doctor. Most headaches are just a part of life and no cause for concern.
Should you experience a cluster headache, the pain certainly will occur, and that’s sharp concentrate behind one eye. Headache experts attribute these headaches that are sudden and problems using a part of your brain called the hypothalamus.
Migraine Headaches And Their Symptoms
More than 60 million American adults report experiencing a migraine, and they affect women in a rate 3 times higher than men.1 Most people with migraines experience their first migraine as an adult, but children and teenagers can fall victim to them, too.
A pounding, deeply or pulsating throbbing aching headache, nausea, and pain which is immobilizing are the main symptoms of migraine headaches. Other common symptoms may include:
One-sided blind spots and blurred vision
Sensitivity to light, noise, or odors
Fatigue and confusion
Feeling sweaty or cold
A stiff or tender neck
Light-headedness
About 20% of people with migraines experience an aura lasting 15 to 20 minutes in front of the onset of the actual migraine.1,2 The most common aura is visual where people experience blind spots, flashing lights, and glowing zigzagging forms. Auras involve other senses, such as for example a tingling feeling or numbness. They confuse the migraine victim and may affect speech.
Causes Of Migraines
Medical experts aren’t sure what causes migraines. Shifting levels of serotonin together with other chemicals in the brain may provoke migraines, but brain scientists and neurologists admit that people have a great deal to learn before we understand the cause completely.
The list below covers a selection of migraine causes; learn more about what causes migraines in our detailed migraine and headache causes article.
You will discover a number of migraine triggers. And meaning you should consider avoiding food can often triggers migraines:
alcoholic beverages
caffeine
legumes, pea pods, lentils, beans, nuts, and peanut butter
pickled and fermented foods such as pickles, soy sauce, sauerkraut, and olives
bologna, ham, herring, hot dogs, pepperoni, sausage, and aged or cured meat
meat tenderizer, seasoned salt, bouillon cubes, and monosodium glutamate (MSG)
buttermilk, sour cream, and other cultured dairy
aged cheese
the artificial sweetener aspartame
avocados
onions
passion fruit and papaya
coffee cake, donuts, sourdough bread, and other items containing brewer’s yeast or fresh
chocolate, cocoa, and carob
figs, plumbs that are red, and raisins
Other common migraine triggers include:
fumes and strong odors
stress
bright lights
loud noises
fatigue
depression
weather changes
poor sleep
interruptions for example missing a meal, in your diet
certain medications
hormonal changes
smoking
exercise, sex, and other activities that are intense
In the event you live with migraine headaches, avoiding triggers may help you reduce the number of episodes you will need to endure.
The scope of our information is limited to chiropractic and spinal injuries and conditions. To discuss options on the subject matter, please feel free to ask Dr. Jimenez or contact us at 915-850-0900 .�
By Dr. Alex Jimenez
Additional Topics: Cervicogenic Headache and Chiropractic
Neck pain associated with whiplash-associated disorders resulting from an automobile accident are reportedly the most prevalent cause for discomfort along the cervical spine. The sheer force of an impact from a rear-end car crash or other traffic incident can cause injuries or aggravate a previously existing condition. While neck pain is commonly the result of damage to the complex structures of the neck, cervicogenic headaches may also result due to neck issues. Chiropractic care can help carefully restore the alignment of the cervical spine to relieve headaches and neck pain.
Chiropractic treatment is based on the principle which allows the body to heal itself naturally through the use of basic techniques. This natural healing controlled by the nervous system. Nerve impulses flow down from the brain to the spinal cord and out through spinal nerves, known as the peripheral nervous system, which then flow into the muscles, ligaments, tendons, and vital organs.
A misalignment in the spine can potentially result in the compression or impingement of the central nervous system. Interference in the nervous system due to spinal complications may often lead to disease and other conditions. These can affect the optimal structure and function of the body.
What is the Atlas Orthogonal?
Atlas Orthogonal is a healthcare program for the spine, initially developed by Dr. Roy Sweat in the late 1960’s based on scientific and biomechanical procedures. Dr. Sweat is considered by many to be one of the world’s foremost authorities regarding injuries and conditions associated with the cervical spine. After years of extensive research and studies, Dr. Roy Sweat developed a non-invasive, precision instrument to restore the original structure of the vertebrae along the cervical spine. The percussion instrument achieves postural restoration without the use of manipulation or the practice of surgery. This precision treatment helps reduce symptoms caused by misalingments along the cervical spine.
The Atlas Orthogonal chiropractic technique has been described by many patients as a gentle, effective and proven treatment, many reporting a decrease in their discomfort and improved function after an adjustment has taken place. The Atlas supports the head and is the top vertebrae of the spine. Orthogonal means at right angle. When the Atlas is not square to the head and spine, or it’s subluxated or misaligned, subsequently, the alignment of the head and spine in relation to the Atlas may be improper. Essentially, the spine cannot be straight in the event the head isn’t on straight. The resulting stress from the misalignment, or subluxation, may cause discomfort to the back, shoulders, pelvis, hips, knees and ankles.
A normal Atlas is aligned with both the skull and the spine. A subluxated or misaligned Atlas is not square. The adjusting instrument is a safe, gentle, and precise method of correcting a misaligned (subluxated) Atlas vertebrae, without the need for physical manipulation. The instrument utilized for the Atlas Orthogonal chiropractic technique delivers a precise impulse to the exact area needed as determined by the patient’s X-rays.
As with chiropractic adjustments utilized to help ease neck pain, back pain and muscle aches, the Atlas Orthogonal chiropractic technique can help relieve many of the similar symptoms. The Atlas Orthogonal Spinal Correction can help the body naturally heal a variety of health problems. This misalignment can block the communication between your brain and body, causing pain, stress and tension. The tension, stress and pain associated with complications along the cervical spine can affect all, even mental and physical activity of the body. Correction of the Atlas may relieve many painful symptoms.
What is the Activator Method Technique?
The Activator Method technique utilizes specific procedures to detect body mechanics problems, analyze leg length inequality, detect spinal joint dysfunction and test neurological reflexes. With one of the unique analytical tools, healthcare professionals can restore your overall spinal balance. An instrument called the Activator is used by many chiropractors to address spinal joint dysfunction. This unique hand-held instrument was scientifically designed to give you a very specific, “low force” adjustment. The Activator instrument delivers a thrust that is fast, light and controlled, without causing undue strain. Activator adjustments are controlled and quick, allowing to get an exact and precise adjustment.
About the Atlas Orthogonal Chiropractic Technique
The scope of our information is limited to chiropractic and spinal injuries and conditions. To discuss options on the subject matter, please feel free to ask Dr. Jimenez or contact us at 915-850-0900 .
By Dr. Alex Jimenez
Additional Topics: Cervicogenic Headache and Chiropractic
Neck pain associated with whiplash-associated disorders resulting from an automobile accident are reportedly the most prevalent cause for discomfort along the cervical spine. The sheer force of an impact from a rear-end car crash or other traffic incident can cause injuries or aggravate a previously existing condition. While neck pain is commonly the result of damage to the complex structures of the neck, cervicogenic headaches may also result due to neck issues. Chiropractic care can help carefully restore the alignment of the cervical spine to relieve headaches and neck pain.
Whiplash, although not technically a medical term, can manifest painful symptoms, usually as a result of neck damage or injury. We call it whiplash because, in an injury, your neck actually can whip back and forth�first backward (hyperextension) and then forward (hyperflexion). Doctors call whiplash a neck sprain or strain. Whiplash is an injury to the soft tissues of upper back and your neck occurring when ligaments and your muscles get overstretched from the force of a collision.
What are the Causes of Whiplash?
The most common reason for whiplash is car accidents. Nevertheless, you can even get whiplash from a fall or a sports injury. It is also possible to get whiplash when you’re punched or shaken.
Non-Surgical Treatment for Whiplash
Time is among the greatest non surgical treatment choices for whiplash. Most cases of whiplash heal by themselves to a couple months in several weeks. Your physician may also suggest: wearing a cervical collar, cervical traction, chiropractic adjustment, physical therapy, and pain medicine, as you heal.
Is Surgery Necessary for Whiplash
Patients with whiplash very, very rarely need surgery. If, nevertheless, you’ve been through wide-ranging non-surgical treatments and also you still have pain, you might consider operation. There are several types of operation used for whiplash
Corpectomy: Sometimes whiplash induces the spinal canal to narrow because of how a soft tissues (muscles, ligaments, and tendons) and bones moved during the initial injury. By removing part of the vertebra and the intervertebral disc using a corpectomy, the surgeon is striving to make more room.
Discectomy: The surgeon will remove section of the intervertebral disc, which may be pressing on your own spinal cord or alternative nerves and causing pain. Sometimes, the surgeon will have to execute a spinal fusion at exactly the same time as the discectomy. The fusion plans to permanently stabilize that region of your back, but not everyone who has a discectomy will desire a fusion.
Foraminotomy: As with a corpectomy, a surgeon uses a foraminotomy to make more room for your own nerves that’ll have gotten compressed and pinched throughout the harm. In this process, the foramina (the area where the nerve roots leave the spinal canal) is removed to boost the size of the nerve pathway.
The scope of our information is limited to chiropractic and spinal injuries and conditions. To discuss options on the subject matter, please feel free to ask Dr. Jimenez or contact us at 915-850-0900 .
By Dr. Alex Jimenez
Additional Topics: Neck Pain and Auto Injury
After being involved in an automobile accident, the sheer force of the impact can often cause whiplash, a common type of neck injury resulting from the sudden, back-and-forth motion of the head against the body due to a car wreck, or other incident. Because of this, many of the complex structures found within the neck, including the spine, ligaments and muscles, can be stretched beyond their normal range, causing injury and painful symptoms.
El Paso, TX. Chiropractor Dr. Alex Jimenez looks at stretches for neck pain.
Your neck is one of the hardest working parts of your body.�It is serves us well as a source of strength and balance. When it�s out of whack, your neck can be a source of unending distress. �Let�s face it�today�s use of technology has our necks being put to use in ways it was never intended. �Did you know that looking down at your phone can sometimes exert as much pressure as the equivalent of a 40lb weight?
Unfortunately for the vast majority of people, neck pain will affect them at some point in their lives. Women are more prone to neck pain but men definitely have their fair share as well.
One Of The Reasons Our Necks Pay A Price… We Sit A Lot
Whether it is at home in front of the TV or electronics or at work in front of the computer, our necks get a work out! Distresses on the neck are felt in many ways, including but not limited to: low back pain, severe headache, migraines, or even facial aching and tenderness.
What are some of the gentle ways you can give your neck a break? Good question, we are glad you asked! Thankfully, stretching our neck muscles regularly is easy to do and it can help relieve and prevent neck pain.
Whiplash refers to a soft-tissue injury of the cervical spine, or neck, caused by a strong, abrupt, back-and- forth movement of the head, typically caused by an automobile accident, although this type of injury can also be the result of a sports accident or other trauma. Several studies suggest that up to 43% of individuals generally suffer from long-term symptoms following a whiplash�
With chiropractic adjustments, a chiropractor will work to gradually correct any spinal misalignments that could be causing the headaches. While many people might already have the knowledge to seek chiropractic treatment for these type of symptoms, many of these same people often don�t know the source of their headaches.
Spending extended periods of time in front of the computer is a common�
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