Chiropractic Manipulation: A New Study Regarding Headaches

Headaches are a common complaint in patients presenting for professional care,
including chiropractic management.  Patients with headaches seek chiropractic
care because they find manipulation or adjustments applied to the cervical spine
and upper back region are highly effective in reducing the intensity, frequency
and duration of the headache pain.  This is because the cervical spine / neck,
is often the origin of the headache as the three nerves in the upper neck (C1, 2
and 3) pass through the thick, overly taught neck muscles in route to the scalp
/ head.  When the muscles of the neck are in spasm, the nerves get “pinched” or
squeezed by the overly tight muscles resulting in headache pain.  Each nerve
runs to a different part of the head and therefore, pain may be described as
“…radiating over the top of head (sometimes into the forehead and eyes),” or,
into the head and over the ear, sometimes reaching the temple.  Also, an area
located in the back and side of the head is the area where the C1 nerve
innervates, so pain may also be reported in that location.  When more than one
of the C1-3 nerves is pinched, the whole side to the top of the head may be
involved.

In the October 2009 issue of The Spine Journal, Western States Chiropractic
College, Center for Outcomes Studies, reported benefits are obtained with the
utilization of spinal manipulation in the treatment of chronic cervicogenic
headaches.  The word “chronic” means at least 3 months of headache pain has been
present.  This new study compared 2 different doses of therapy using several
outcome measures including the pain grade, the number of headaches in the last 4
weeks and the amount of medication utilized.  Data was collected every 4 weeks
for a 24 week period and patients were treated 1-2 times/week and separated into
either an 8 or a 16 treatment session with half the group receiving either
spinal manipulative therapy or a minimal light massage (LM) control group.
The results of the study revealed the spinal manipulation group obtained better
results than the control group at all time intervals.  There was a small benefit
in the group that received the greater number of treatments with the mean number
of cervicogenic headaches reduced by 50% in both pain intensity and headache
frequency.

The importance of this study is significant as there are many side effects to
medications frequently utilized in the treatment of headaches.  Many patients
prefer not taking medications for this reason and spinal manipulation therapy
(SMT) offers a perfect remedy for these patients.  Couple SMT with dietary
management, lifestyle modifications, stress management, and a natural,
vitamin/herbal anti-inflammatory (such as ginger, turmeric, boswellia) when
needed, a natural, holistic approach to the management of chronic headaches is
accomplished.

We are proud that chiropractic care has consistently scored the highest level of
satisfaction when compared to other forms of health care provision and look
forward in serving you and your family presently and in the future.