San Diego Chiropractic Blog

Types of Headaches

Headaches is one of the major afflictions for which new patients visit my chiropractic office in San Diego. This condition may seem like a minor health issue to those of us who do not suffer from chronic or severe headaches. But they can have a major role as to how the patient and the population are generally affected. Over ten million visits to the doctor in the United States were caused by headaches in 2007 alone, while being a popular excuse for calling out of work and school.

Medications from the doctor offer relief for a little while, but don’t do anything to help the origin. Chiropractic care, on the other hand, works directly at righting the root causes that trigger a multitude of headaches. This piece will delineate the five basic kinds of headaches — tension, toxic, sinus, cluster and migraine — so you may have a better understanding of which kind of headache you might be experiencing.

Tension Headaches

The most common type of headache, by far, is tension headaches. Roughly 4 out of 5 people are subject to tension headaches from time to time, while five percent are subject to tension headaches every day. Tension headaches affect women twice as much as men.

The duration of anywhere from 30 minutes to several days is average for tension headaches. Band-like pain, pressure, or throbbing of the head are the most common symptoms related to this type of headache.

There can be a significant increase in severity with the frequency of the headaches. Emotional stress, depression, not enough rest, poor posture, and/or chiropractic subluxation causing pressure on the nerves are some of the multiple causes for tension headaches. More frequently than otherwise, this kind of headache normally happens due to a mixture of the above mentioned causes.

Toxic Headaches

This is a rare occurrence of a headache in the medical community. Despite this fact, it is often straightforward to identify this category of headache, when occurring as a result to toxin exposure.

Sinus Headaches

Sinus headaches are not unusual, and the pain is localized to sinus cavities around the forehead, eyes, nose, and cheeks. Rather than relieving sinus headaches long term, many medications used for this purpose ironically may exacerbate and prolong sinus conditions.

Cluster Headaches

Cluster headaches are one of the most intense sort of headaches and are normally one-sided. Luckily, though, they are quite unusual and less than 0.1% of people suffer from them. They generally begin prior to age 30 and happen in time periods ranging from 14 days to three months.

These headaches usually occur one to three times per day, lasting for 30-90 minutes. The patient usually awakens from them one to two hours after retiring.

When the cluster period is over, these headaches may disappear for months or years, but the headaches reappear later on. These attacks are considered to be tied to circadian rhythms in the pineal gland and hypothalamus, which controls the resting and awake cycles. This type of headache often occur with spring or fall changes in season.

Migraine Headaches

Migraine headaches, vascular in nature, are caused by variations in the arteries inside and outside the brain. Approximately 28 million Americans suffer with migraines, however approximately 13 million Americans don’t have a diagnosis now. Migraines affect more women than men. Of the ones who have been diagnosed, 25 percent experience at least four episodes per month; 35 percent endure 1-4 attacks per month, and the final 40 percent go through one attack per month or less. Migraines can commonly last from four hours to three days.

There is a family history of migraines in four out of five sufferers from migraines. Children who have one parent who gets migraines have a 50 percent chance of getting them, and if both parents get them, they have a 75 percent chance.

Understanding migraine headache triggers may help avoid future headaches; common trigger factors include weather changes, caffeine, chemical exposure, fatigue or insomnia, and missed meals. Signs may include an aura in the form of light, noise or odor sensitivity; nausea or vomiting; and stomach distress or pain. Additional symptoms of paleness, dizziness, a mild fever, or an upset stomach may manifest in a child with a migraine.

Written by the best San Diego Chiropractor

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Migrain headaches are a common complaint in my San Diego Chiropractic Clinic. Researchers and medical professionals have developed many different theories regarding the cause of migrains.

Many chiropractors, my peers, believe that in some instances migrains are caused by misaligned vertebra that pinch certain nerves in the upper cervical portion of the spine. I see patients’ migrain headaches respond favorably to chiropractic care in my clinic on a regular basis. That being said, misalignments of the upper cervical vertebra don’t explain all cases of mirgain headaches because all of my patients don’t get better.

Other different theories about the cause of migraines include:

Vascular pressure changes in your brain; from initial blood vessel constriction and a drop in blood flow, followed by dilation and stretching of blood vessels, which activates pain-signaling neurons. These dialations and constrictions can include blood flow increases of up to 300%.

Changes in your serotonin levels; when levels drop, blood vessels including those in your brain become swollen and inflamed, which can lead to migraine pain.

Neurological disorders; related to nerve cell activity that crosses your brain, causing pain. In this case, it is thought that the release of neurotransmitters across the cortex of your brain can directly stimulate the trigeminal nerves found in your brain stem, setting off a chain reaction that ends in the pain signals of a migraine.

A nervous system disorder involving your brain stem. Your brain stem is your control center for alertness, perception of light, noise and smell, cerebral blood flow, cardiovascular function and pain sensitivity — many, if not most, of which are part of the symptoms of a migraine attack.

Typically a person who experiences migrains often can identify a “trigger” that they can point to as the culprit of their headaches. If you have migrains and have not attempted to identify your triggers you should. The following is list of some common migraine triggers.

Allergies: Including food allergies / sensitivities and chemical sensitivities.

Dehydration and / or hunger

Changes in sleeping patterns: Both missing sleep and oversleeping can trigger a migraine.

Stress: Emotional stress or trauma can trigger a migraine.

Physical exertion: Intense exercise has been known to bring on migraines.

Hormones: Some women experience migraines before, or during their periods, during pregnancy, or during menopause.

Other factors: Bright lights, fluorescent lights, loud noises and strong smells (even pleasant ones) can trigger a migraine. Weather changes, seasonal changes, and changes in altitude can also act as a trigger for a migraine.

All of the above causes of migraines are significant and some are downright scary. New research studies, however, point to a few potential cures of migraines that just may work for you. A recent study found that vitamin supplementation of vitamin B6, B12 and folic acid has the potential to reduce the frequency and severity of migrains.

Recent studies have also found that 42% of those suffering from migraine headaches are also suffering from a vitamin D deficiency.

It follows that supplimentation of B6, B12, folic acid and vitamin D may provide significant migraine relief for a portion of you reading this post.

Your’s In Good Health

Dr. Jones

Personal Injury Doctor San Diego

Have you ever noticed how tight your neck, upper back and shoulders are after a long day of sitting at the computer?

There are a number of factors that contribute to this tightness. Simply the stress of deadlines, an overbearing boss or an annoying co-worker can make your shoulders rise up and your head push forward. And this stress is the result of just the emotional stress of work. When you add the real physical strains of a poorly designed work station on top of the emotional stresses that already exist you have a perfect recipe for a repetitive stress injury.

A large part of designing an ergonomically friendly workstation revolves around limiting the “reach” for items that are frequently accessed.

The distance that you have to reach for any object in your workspace can have major implications on your health. In general, workers should have the items that they use on a regular basis through the day such as the mouse and keyboard for computer users or the telephone for a receptionist or a sales person, positioned close to their bodies so as to avoid awkward or overreaching.

As a general rule, the best positioning for your keyboard and mouse allows you to operate them while your shoulders hang straight down at your sides and elbows are slightly extended. This position reduces the stress of overreaching and allows for completion of your tasks with less muscular effort.

There are many ergonomic apparatus that allow for proper placement of your computer input devices. Pull out keyboard trays, split keyboards, mouse platforms and even foot controls help reduce the ongoing stresses of computer input.

Even with these devices, it takes awareness to maintain an ergonomically friendly work environment.

For a nice selection of high quality ergonomic office products you can visit www.comfortkeyboard.com.

Your’s In Good Health

Dr. Jones

www.JonesPainRelief.com

I don’t know about you, but I am a headache wimp. I hardly ever get headaches, when I do I don’t handle them very well. I get moody and I tend to “snap” at people that really mean me no harm.

In addition to my San Diego chiropractic office treating patients with neck pain and low back pain, we see many people with headaches. Headaches have many causes and there are many different types of headaches as well.

The most common types of headache that we provide treatment for are migraine and muscle tension headaches.

Muscle tension headaches typically begin in the muscles of the neck and upper back. When these muscle become tense, they pull on the muscles that cover your head. This tension results in a headache.

Muscle tension headaches can result from postural stresses such as long hours of computer work, they can develop as a result of car accident injuries, or just plain old work and home stresses.

One common reason for chronic, on going tension in the muscle is miss-aligned vertebra. When the vertebra become miss-aligned due to postural stress, awkward sleeping positions, accidents, etc., the muscles around that vertebra tighten up as a protective mechanism. The tight muscles are commonly the root cause of the muscle tension headache.

Chiropractic care re-aligns the joints of the spine causing a relaxation of the surrounding muscles. When the joints in the neck are re-aligned, the muscles that move and support that particular vertebra relax and return to their normal functions.

When the muscles are relaxed, the muscle tension subsides and the headache goes away. Treatment for muscle tension headaches usually requires a series of treatments but you should notice a decrease in the frequency and the severity of your headache with subsequent treatment.

Your’s In Good Health

Dr. Jones

www.JonesPainRelief.com

Several years ago, Florida Sate University was selected as a site for the newest Palmer Chiropractic College. While this blog post revolves around a story that takes place thousands of miles away from my San Diego Chiropractic Office, it is relevant because it would initiate a study that would explore current beliefs and opinions regarding chiropractic care. After all, this would be the first general studies university to have a chiropractic college integrated into its campus. As with most changes, there were both accolades and anger. As a result of the divide between those in favor and those against the addition of Palmer College (my school by the way), an intensive study of chiropractic was launched by the Florida State University to find out exactly what chiropractic care was and why so many people seek out chiropractic treatment.

The following findings are taken directly from the overview found on the first few pages of the FSU report.

Reasons and Conditions for Patients Seeking Chiropractic Care

The primary reasons that patients seek chiropractic care are for illness related to back pain, headaches, and neck pains. Other types of illnesses for which chiropractic treatments are sought include lower and upper extremity pains, chest pains, and abdominal pains.

The primary causes of patient conditions for which chiropractic care is sought are activities of daily living, motor vehicle accidents, overuse/repetitive stress, work and sports/exercise/recreation.

Almost 10 percent of the patients seeking chiropractic care do so for wellness and preventive care reasons.

Consumer Use and Satisfaction with Chiropractic Care

Consumers of chiropractic care have expressed overwhelming satisfaction with the services. A survey of Floridians revealed that over 90 percent of those who have used chiropractic care during the past three years were satisfied with those services.

Nationally, the percentage of the U.S. population who has used chiropractic services has increased from 5 percent in 1980 to over 45 percent in the late 1990s.

A 2000 Florida survey revealed that over 29 percent of Floridians have used chiropractic care just within the past three years.

The survey also revealed that 92.3 percent of those who previously used chiropractic care would do so again if they had illnesses that chiropractors treat.

Research Proves Effectiveness of Chiropractic Care for Selected Conditions

During the past 20 years, over 100 studies of the effectiveness of chiropractic care, both alone and in combination with other treatments, have been conducted by reputable researchers. The studies have included clinical trials, research of medical records, consumer surveys, and chiropractic surveys. Very little research has been conducted on the wellness/preventive effectiveness of chiropractic care. Thus, no evidence currently exists either supporting or denying the hypothesis that chiropractic care improves the overall health of an individual.

The research has shown that chiropractic care is either more effective or as effective as comparable pharmaceutical and surgical treatments for back and neck pains and for certain types of headaches.

Perhaps of even more importance, the research has shown that chiropractic care is significantly safer than comparable pharmaceutical and surgery treatments, producing far fewer (about 4,000 times fewer, according to one study) negative side effects such as chronic pain, disability, or death.

This is just a small piece of the FSU study on chiropractic care. In future posts I will provide more details from this document. I hope you enjoyed it!

Yours In Good Health

Dr. Jones

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Does computer work seem much more difficult (physically) than it should be?

The patients in my San Diego chiropractic practice often seem perplexed by the fact that they can be injured doing such sedentary work as computer work. Most are of the opinion that it takes a forceful and traumatic incident to result in injury.

Unfortunately, this is not the case. National statistics point to the computer as a major contributor to lost days at work due to injury. I see the same thing in my San Diego Chiropractic office. Neck pain, shoulder pain, wrist pain, hand pain and back pain are common among those who don’t have the proper ergonomic set-up of their computer stations. That being said, some people get these symptoms regardless of their ergonomic set-up and must evaluate many other contributing factors in order to relieve the stress.

Computer ergonomics is the study and / or implementation of workstation design with the purpose of reducing or eliminating physical stress.

My interest in repetitive stress syndromes began approximately 10 years ago when my practice started seeing a much greater number of people suffering from the effects of computer / keyboard work. Despite all of my training and continuing education related to these types of injuries, I quickly realized that traditional treatment for this type of injury was marginally successful at best.

Any type of therapy was going to have to include the application of basic ergonomic principals to the patient’s work environment.

I am of the opinion that treatment alone or application of ergonomic principals by themselves is not going to resolve a repetitive stress injury.

Over the next several weeks I will write a series of articles that will address the implication of workstation ergonomics and injury resulting from postural stress secondary to use of the computer mouse.

Specifically, the following will be addressed:

1) What repetitive stress injuries are

2) What role do work station ergonomics play in injury

3) How reaching for the mouse sets the stage for injury

4) What are the symptoms of repetitive stress injury

5) How you can avoid mouse reaching injuries

Yours In Good Health

More Coming Soon Here’s To Your Health Yours In Good Health
Dr. Jones

San Diego Chiropractic Care
Chiropractor San Diego Blog
Pain Relief San Diego Chiropractor
Car Accident Whiplash Injuries Pain Relief
Back Pain Relief & Treatment
Work Injury & Workplace Safety Advice
Web Design Hillcrest - San Diego - California
Prenatal Health & Pain Relief