Chiropractic Headaches

Stress, sleep deprivation and fatigue have been no small component of Dr. Michael Benson's life. As a fetal surgeon, Benson is often 24 - to 36-hour stretches at a time take care of patients. He has little time to rest or eat regular meals and healthy. No wonder he has suffered from migraines for years.

Benson is not alone. An estimated 28 million Americans suffer from migraines. As anyone who experiences these intense headaches can tell you, they can be extremely debilitating. Acute pain, possible visual disturbances and nausea, and sensitivity to light, sounds and odors can render a person unable to reach the everyday responsibilities, much less to perform complex tasks such as surgery.

To cope, Benson has used Ibuprofen and heat to manage pain, but sometimes it does not work. "I used to keep a syringe of Toradol [a strong] anti-inflammatory analgesic in my medicine cabinet," he admits, "because once my headaches get really bad, I am nausea and can not take anything by mouth. It saved having to go to the emergency. "Enter chiropractic.

Having trained as an MD, Benson confessed that chiropractic treatment was not in his knowledgebase or on his immediate list of pain relief measures. In fact, if it had not been visiting his brother, a doctor of chiropractic, when a stroke of bad headache, he may never have received chiropractic care. "The Ibuprofen did not work, so my brother suggested I consider myself and adjust my neck," he said. "When you're in pain, you're ready to try anything." In 10 to 15 minutes of the adjustment, his migraine had disappeared.

It is likely that Benson's body reacts to stress by contraction of muscles around the cervical joints in the neck, causing nerves in his neck to become impinged and triggering his migraines. Chiropractic adjustment alleviates this pain by relaxing muscles and promoting a full range of motion in the neck, allowing the headache to subside. And the positive experience of Benson is not uncommon. Recent studies at Duke University found that spinal manipulation was almost always immediately effective in relieving headaches originating in the neck and provided longer lasting relief than commonly prescribed pain medications.

Benson migraines probably will not disappear completely, without changes in lifestyle important changes that may be difficult to implement with his profession. Once migraines are an established pattern, they are very difficult to get rid of, explains his brother. But he can work to reduce them to a chiropractic solution that does not include the possible side effects of prescription drugs-cons and pain management. Whenever a potentially incapacitating migraine hits and Benson is an adjustment from his brother, "It still works, he said.

Ready for a change of drugs? Call chiropractic Barton Concord at 925 685-2002 NOW.