Headaches
The Truth, the Whole Truth and Nothing but the Truth about Headaches
So Help Us…
The first thing to know is that headaches are the #1 reason people see doctors worldwide. So, obviously, headaches are a common ailment. If you believe the over-the-counter advertising we all see, you would think headaches are normal. That’s NOT true! The first truth we will let you in on is that headaches are NOT normal, but a sign (often a painful one) that something is wrong.
There are Many Reasons Headaches Occur…
Headaches have many causes including space occupying lesions in the brain or spinal chord (thankfully, extremely rare), visual strain from eye conditions, head traumas resulting in skull conditions, vascular conditions affecting blood flow to the upper neck and skull and biochemical problems involving the body’s chemistry. Some of these conditions are much more serious than others, while sometimes having appropriate eyeglasses can eliminate certain headaches completely.
By far the most common cause of headaches is the cervicogenic headache.
Cervicogenic means caused from the neck. Neurogically the brainstem and upper region of the neck affects many nerves that carry pain which is expressed as headache pain. The nerves carry both motor (muscle movement) and sensory (ability to feel hot, cold, light sensations or pain) to all the body’s 20 million cells. Those in the upper neck affect the face and head.
Trauma to the neck can cause cerviocogenic headaches.
Traumas such as blows to the head, falls or car accidents can cause the comparatively delicate upper neck vertebrae to shift in position, which can cause both restricted ability to turn the head in certain directions or nerve compression. When a nerve is stretched or compressed as it leaves the spinal cord, it creates a “short” n the circuit. This can cause decreased blood flow to scalp and muscle and pain from faulty nerve flow, eventually leading to chronic headaches.
IF YOU REQUESTED THIS INFORMATION, CHANCES ARE YOU OR A LOVED ONE SUFFERS FROM RECURRING HEADACHES
If they are recurrent, in other words, the headaches continue – the first thing you need to do is to find out what is causing them.
Unless you find the cause, there is no way to find the right solution. In certain headaches, such as migraines, there is often a particular medication that can virtually eliminate them. In other cases, such as TMD (Temporal mandibular disorder, involving the jaw), disorders can cause frequent excruciating headaches that are extremely treatable. Cervicogenic headaches also respond very well to a combination of therapies including neuromuscular therapy, manipulation, synaptic or matrix therapy, or various pain management protocols.
The Approach Works…
Dr. Ren Halverson has had one of the busiest practices in the Southeast of over 25 years and has treated over 10,000 headache patients in his career. Come in for your FREE headache evaluation with Dr. Halverson.
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