Natural Headache Relief
Is your life being ruined by recurring headaches? Are you spending a small fortune on headache medications but the relief you are getting is only temporary at best? Perhaps you’ve already been to a doctor because the pain was so unbearable, but after going through countless prescriptions you were told that that there was nothing more that could be done?
Well, if you’ve answered yes to any of these questions, you are not alone! In fact, more than twenty million Americans see their doctors each year because of these same frustrations, making headaches one of the leading patient complaints that causes them to visit their primary care physician.
The Truth About Headaches...They're Not All In Your Head!
The truth is, many headaches arise from tiny areas of irritation within the surrounding muscles and joints of the head, neck and shoulders. These areas of irritation are known as trigger points. This usually causes a certain type of headache, known as a muscle tension headache, which makes up a staggering 90% of all headache types! But don’t despair! These headaches can be effectively treated with a technique called trigger point therapy, giving you long lasting headache relief without medication!
Our Headache Relief Program
Utilizing chiropractic adjustments to address vertebral subluxations and massage for trigger point therapy, your endless cycle of constant pain may finally be broken allowing you to take control of your agonizing headaches without the use of medication!
Frequently Asked Questions
The number of visits varies and is based on the severity of your condition. As far as insurance coverage is concerned, most insurance companies including Medicare do cover trigger point therapy for the treatment of headaches. Each insurance company, however, has its own rules for medical necessity and the types of therapies that are covered. For your convenience, I have the friendliest staff you will ever meet and they can help you determine whether your insurance plan will cover treatment.
At our office we do not use injections to treat trigger points, instead we use manual and mechanical treatment techniques. It's for this reason that treaments are usually not painful.
Usually not. If the cause of your headaches is due to trigger points found in the surrounding muscles of the head, neck and shoulders, then the most effective treatment is to directly address the trigger points with trigger point therapy. Muscle relaxants will only "relax" a muscle, giving you temporary relief at best; however, it will not remove the trigger points. In fact, when the effect of the medication wears off, the headache often quickly returns because the source of the problem remains.
The answer to this question is not a simple one. You see, as I mentioned above, if the cause of your headache is due to muscle trigger points (or if they are a contributing factor to your headache) then trigger point therapy is the answer. However, if your headache is due to other factors in addition to trigger points, for example high blood pressure or hormonal changes to name a few, then trigger point therapy will remove the muscle tension but will not completely resolve the headache because the other underlying causes are not being addressed. This is why if your headaches persist or you're not sure what is causing your headache, you should see a qualified doctor or healthcare provider.
Effectively treated trigger points should not come back. However, it's important to remember that for some patients, it is a recurring problem and treatment will not prevent new ones from forming if lifestyle and diet modifications are not initiated. Therefore, to help prevent the formation of new trigger points, regular exercise has been found to decrease stress, which is often a source of muscle tension and trigger points. Additionally, practicing good posture when sitting or walking can also prevent uneven muscle tone as well as the onset of muscle spasm and trigger points in the shoulder & neck muscles. Sitting improperly or slouching, for example in front of a computer terminal, can create muscle tension and shorten the muscles in your neck, triggering a muscle tension headache!
At our office we perform trigger point therapy using one of two different techniques. The first is manual; by locating the trigger point and applying gentle pressure directly over it, the area of localized muscle tension slowly releases. The second technique is mechanical; through a physical therapy treatment known as therapeutic ultrasound, sound waves are utilized to help break up the trigger point or "mini-spasm". This will help reduce or eliminate the cause of your symptoms, thus putting you on the road to pain free living!
