How Does Chiropractic Help Headaches?

There are six randomized controlled scientific studies showing chiropractic care is beneficial for headache sufferers.  But, the average person may not understand exactly how it works.

There are three main ways that chiropractic helps headaches.  First, chiropractic treatments relax muscles.  Muscle tension is one of the main causes of headaches.  Tense muscles in the neck and upper back can refer pain up into the head as shown in the pictures below.  You may notice the areas of pain depicted in the drawings, correspond to your painful areas.  Relaxing these muscles, can help relieve your pain.

The second way chiropractic helps headaches is by relieving pinched nerves.  If a nerve in the upper part of the neck gets pinched, you can get pain that runs up into your head via a nerve called the greater occipital nerve.  You can see the area it affects in the drawing below.  Taking the pressure off the nerves, by re-aligning the bones of the neck, will relieve the pain.

The third way chiropractic helps is by improving your posture.  By improving your posture, the muscles of the neck do not have to contract as hard to hold up your head.  It also makes it less likely that a nerve will get pinched.  Improving your posture, will give you lasting relief of symptoms.

If you are suffering from headaches, you can get relief.  For more information check out other articles on www.painfree-greatposture.com.  Or, call Karen or Pat at 262-251-8306 and set up a Free No Obligation Headache Solution Evaluation with local headache treatment expert, Dr. Paul Kramer.   He will discuss your situation with you and perform a non-invasive surface EMG test to see if you might be a candidate for treatment.  This test will pin-point the areas where you are having trouble and give Dr. Kramer information he needs to determine if he can help.  The test is painless and free.  Just call 262-251-8306.

Pain Relief During Pregnancy

If you are pregnant and suffering from back pain, neck pain, headaches, migraines, sciatica or other pain, you are limited in what can be done.  You can not take drugs because they can adversely affect your child.

However, you can get a tremendous amount of relief pain with the ABC style of anterior spinal manipulation.  This type of chiropractic is gentle to have done and provides immediate relief of pain.  You also will notice how much easier it is to get up out of a chair and walk.  The body functions better and the results happen immediately, not sometime later.

To find out how it is done, watch this video:

Then call Jennifer or Pat and set up an appointment for a free consultation where you can find out how this new type of treatment can help.  Call 262-251-8306.

Back to School Shoes- What do you look for?

Everyone is starting their back to school shopping.  Most kids will need new shoes.  But what kind of shoes are best ?

The best shoes for human health are flat, wide and flexible.

It is totally un-necessary and often detrimental to have shoes with arch supports in them.  Arch supports encourage heel striking, which increases the amount of stress put on the joints.  Arch supports cause a postural problem called forward head posture, where the head juts out in front of the shoulders causing back pain, neck pain and headaches.  A recent study by the British Journal of Sports Medicine reviewed all the research on arch supports and concluded that there is no evidence that arch supports treat or prevent injury.  So stay away from arch supports and other gadgets in shoes.

1. When you choose a shoe, look inside the shoe and make sure it is level from side to side.  No lump in the arch.
2. Make sure the area of the shoe where the toes lay, is wide so it doesn’t constrict the toes.  If the shoe is too pointy, it will cause balance problems.
3. Make sure the very back of the heel is the highest point on the shoe.  If the arch area or any other part of the shoe is higher than the back of the heel, it will cause the shoulders to slump forward when standing.
4.  Walk or jog a little in the shoes and make sure you don’t feel off balance, limp or walk funny.
5. Stand in the shoes take a few deep breaths, relax and let your body go limp.  If your body falls forward more in the shoes, the shoes are causing posture problems and will make you more prone to injury.  They may be right for someone else, but not for you.
6. If you wobble when you stand in a shoe, get rid of it.  It is a sign that your body is struggling to stay upright, and you will be more prone to injury.
7. Do not buy shoes with the boat shaped “rocker bottoms”.  Several lawsuits have been filed against the makers of these types of shoes due to hip fractures and other disorders.

If you are having any type of musculo-skeletal pain, your shoes will play a part in the condition and will need to be corrected for the condition to heal.

For more information on how I treat foot pain, log on to:  www.stopyourfootpain.com

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When Are Headaches Dangerous?

This month’s topic will address dangerous headaches. To keep this in perspective, most headaches are NOT dangerous. In fact, tension-type headaches and migraines are very common and remain the focus of most health care providers and patients who suffer from headaches.  With that said, it’s important to discuss the signs and symptoms that might help all of us differentiate between headaches that are safe versus those which are not safe.

The most important factor to consider is when the “typical” headache is suddenly “different.” Some of these “different” symptoms may include slurred speech, difficulty communicating or formulating thought, seizures, fainting or loss of consciousness (even for a few seconds), memory lapses, double or blurred vision, profound dizziness, numbness in the face or half of the body, an “alarm” should sound off telling you to get this checked ASAP. These symptoms deviate from “the norm” and may be indicative of a more serious condition.

Signs of a dangerous headache include:

1. A headache that starts suddenly, especially if it’s of a severe degree.
2. Headaches that start later in life, especially after the age of 50.
3. A change in the quality of headaches.
4. Visual changes, including double vision or loss of vision.
5. Weakness, numbness, or any other neurological symptoms.
6. Fevers – especially of rapid onset.
7. Change in mental status including sleepiness, hallucinations, speech changes or confusion.
8. Weight loss.

If there is ever ANY doubt about a dangerous headache, your physician should be contacted.

Typically, the migraine patient will notice a fairly consistent set of symptoms and even though the headaches can vary in intensity, the sequence of events is fairly consistent.  Dangerous headaches are the ones that deviate significantly from that migraine sufferer’s “norm.”  For example, suppose a patient’s “typical” migraine is: aura (bright, flashy lights in the visual field or, a strange odor precedes the migraine about 30 min. before the headache strikes), followed by a gradually increasing pain in half of the head which worsens to a point of nausea and sometimes vomiting if something isn’t done to stop it (such as a chiropractic adjustment and/or some form of medication).  If this is that patient’s “usual,” than when any of the 8 items previously listed above accompany the headache, it should be further evaluated.  Evaluation will often require an EEG (electroencephalogram) and/or MRI (Magnetic Resonant Image). The EEG will test for any electrical signal changes in the brain and the MRI will show space occupying structures such as tumors, bleeding, infection, aneurism, and if performed with a contrast agents, arterial malformations (that is, abnormal networks of blood vessels).

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