When Should You See a Chiropractor for Headaches?
All day long I listened to the crunch of the snow as my skis pushed left and right. It was such a peaceful day at Winter Park ski resort. Skiing in mid-February in the middle of the week is the time to ski. I was practically the only one on the runs most of the day.
As a kid, my parents took us to the mountains almost every winter to ski for a few days, so today, as an adult, I was perfectly comfortable on skis and feeling a bit adventurous.
The lifts closed at 4pm, so I hopped on the last chairlift at 3:55 to get in one more run. I had made a plan with friends to to meet up at the lodge at 4:00, so I took the shortest, fastest way down.
The next thing I knew, I was on my back.
I had blacked out, and the ski patrol were trying to get me to respond. It took me a few minutes to come to my senses, but they said I had hit a tree.
“How are you feeling? Does anything hurt?” the ski patrolman asked. I suddenly realized I was in serious pain. “My leg hurts, bad,” I exclaimed!
“We’ll get you down and to the hospital in just a couple of minutes,” he responded. “Your leg might be broken, so try to lay still and relax.”
At the bottom of the mountain, I was transported to the hospital where my leg was examined and X-rayed. The doctors determined that it was broken, so I received a cast and some crutches to use until it healed.
Now, Imagine if…
Now, imagine if the ski patrol had only asked what was hurting and then offered some ibuprofen to make it feel better, handed me my skis and then told me that they’d see me at the bottom.
“That would be silly! No one would do that,” you say!
The truth is, that many of us do exactly that when it comes to headaches.
Instead of trying to determine the cause of our headache and then treating the cause, we treat the symptom by covering up the pain with pain meds.
There are plenty of products on the market that take care of headache pain for a short time, but headaches always return. Chiropractic care can help you find the source of your headache and then eliminate it.
Seeing a Chiropractor for Headaches Ensures That You Uncover the Cause
Seeing a chiropractor for headaches keeps you focused on uncovering the cause of your pain. Once you know what’s causing it, you can explore natural pain relief options that can fix it. And, once the source of the problem is eliminated, the symptoms naturally go away.
In my case, once my broken leg had healed, I was back to running, jumping (and even skiing) again.
Headaches may be caused by many different problems. During your initial exam, your chiropractor will conduct a series of physical and neurological tests (and X-rays) to determine the extent of you injuries. Once he diagnoses your specific condition, he will discuss your treatment options. Together, you can discuss how you’d like to move forward.
There are two primary types of headaches: migraines and tension headaches. Your chiropractor will be able to diagnose the type of headaches you’re experiencing and determine the best course of action to treat them.
Why it Works
In a recent study, 87% of headache sufferers found complete relief, or at least significant improvement, from their headache pain after being treated by a chiropractor for headaches.
30% to 80% of the US adult population suffers from headaches each year. The primary cause or “trigger” of these headaches is often some type of environmental or internal stress. These stresses range from poor posture to too much time on your phone. (Can someone say “Candy Crush?”)
By restoring motion to your joints in the neck and shoulders that often become locked up or fixated our Overland Park chiropractors use chiropractic adjustments and physiotherapy to eliminate the pressure that these joints often put on your nerves.
As a result, your headaches are almost always eliminated.
So the next time your headache comes back, instead of popping a pain pill, call and ask to speak with one of our Overland Park chiropractors at Fulk Chiropractic or schedule an appointment online. You’ll spend a lot less money on medicine and get back to doing what you love.