Two of the most common complaints that come into our office are Headaches and Neck Pain. Migraines are more common than many other chronic and debilitating conditions. How common are they? Let’s look at some surprising numbers: The number of people suffering from migraines equals those with type 2 diabetes and those with asthma combined. Rheumatoid arthritis affects over 2 million people and most are females. Asthma affects about 14.5 million Americans. Type II Diabetes affects 17 million Americans. Osteoarthritis affects almost 21 million Americans and women more than men. Severe migraine affects 27.9 million Americans with a female to male ratio of 3 to 1.
As you can see, severe migraine headaches impact a large part of our society and are by far impacting more women than men. This number holds true in our office as well. Although we see men with headaches, the largest section of patients that seek headache relief are female.
Can Chiropractic really help your headache? After proper diagnosis of your headache, and it is determined that a Chiropractor is the right doctor because the headache is of postural or mechanical origin, your doctor will begin a series of Chiropractic treatments with various modalities. How effective is Chiropractic for migraines? “The best evidence indicates that cervical manipulation for neck pain is much safer than the use of NSAIDs, by as much as a factor of several hundred times. There is no evidence that indicates NSAID use is any more effective than cervical manipulation for neck pain.” This information is derived from Dabbs, V., Lauretti, WJ; A Risk Assessment of Cervical Manipulation vs. NSAIDs for the Treatment of Neck Pain, J. Manipulative Physiol.Ther. 1995; 18:530-6.
So in a nutshell, migraine headaches are a problem for many, many people, primarily female. These people have so many headaches they sometimes refer to it as “my normal headache!” Sympathetic friends and family members are quick to just whip out the little bottle of NSAIDS as a way to help, but are they helping? Do they know the effect of chronic use of NSAIDS? Probably not, and besides that, NSAIDS just mask symptoms. Maybe they should whip out the card of their nearest and dearest Chiropractor instead.
At Health By Logic In Beavercreek, Ohio, we are constantly looking for the best ways to both relieve a patient’s pain and correct the root cause of the issue through Chiropractic care. If you need help with migraine or headaches or chronic neck pain give us a call at 937-429-0777.
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