If you find yourself often plagued with a headache, the problem could be a subtle injury to your neck. The injury could've come from a fall or sudden stop in the car. It can also be from stress on the muscles in the neck from keeping your head and neck in one position for a long time. Staring down at the paperwork on your desk for hours at a time can irritate neck muscles. This is the type of pain that chiropractors are good at treating. Their non-invasive techniques reduce the neck pain and headaches without hospitalization.

Why Your Head Hurts

At the top of your spine is a complicate arrangement of muscles and nerves. The nerves travel along the spine into your head. Tense muscles in your neck, or an accidental injury that stresses those muscles, cause the nerves to send signals to the brain that you perceive as a headache. Blood vessels can become constricted from the muscle tension as well, making the pain worse. If the pain is in the sides of your head, that's a sign that the neck muscle are likely involved.

Why a Chiropractor?

Chiropractors specialize in the spine and the muscles and nerves that surround it. They understand how muscle injuries in the neck can irritate the nerves causing pain in other parts of your body, such as your head. The treatment they offer is done in the doctor's office and you may begin to feel relief after the first treatment.

Chiropractic Techniques for Headache Relief

You doctor will focus on reducing stress on your neck muscles. This will lessen the inflammation of the muscles which is what irritates the nerves. Two techniques may be used to treat your headaches.

Manipulation - Your doctor will look at the top of your spine for a misalignment of the cervical vertebrae. A slight deviation of the bones from normal can put stress on the muscles and irritate the nerves. Manual manipulation of the first two cervical vertebrae back to their correct position relieves pressure on the muscle and nerves.

Trigger point therapy - Your doctor will look for specific muscles in your neck that are tense and massage them until they slowly relax and stretch out. If the muscle is so tense that a knot can be felt under the skin, they will use their knuckle or a  special tool to apply steady pressure to the muscle until it relaxes. As the muscle relaxes, the swelling goes away as does the nerve irritation and headache.

Instead of relying on pain medication, or just putting up with annoying headaches, see a chiropractor, like those at Rockwood Chiropractic, to find the cause and relieve your pain permanently.

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