There is a big difference between having a headache once or twice a year and living with regular headaches, let alone migraines. When your head hurts, it’s hard to do much of anything else. It’s difficult not to snap at people when you’re struggling to do simple tasks and get through another day of headaches.
Headaches and Migraines
Headaches and migraines come with a variety of symptoms. There may be pain, which may present itself only in certain areas or all over. It may be a persistent ache or a recurring throbbing. Some people just feel the pain, others feel more symptoms associated with migraines, like nausea, depression, irritation, and light and noise intolerance. Finding even temporary relief from these symptoms is often a struggle. If the issue is structural, which it often is, then fixing the structural issue can get to the source of the problem.
Your spinal column is made up of 33 small interlocking bones known as vertebrae. The spinal column is the center vertical column of the body, from the hips up through the neck. There are many nerve bundles around the spinal column. The spinal column contains many small joints, and when any one of the vertebrae falls out of proper alignment, they can easily irritate the surrounding nerves. How do vertebrae come out of alignment? This can occur in a sudden incident, like a car accident or other trauma to the body. It can also happen through repeated stress. Sitting at a desk all day with poor posture can cause the vertebrae to shift. Spending a long weekend helping your friend can put a lot of stress on the body. The motions may be small and seem harmless or make our muscles instantly sore. The bigger issue is that the repetitive nature of these examples is sometimes too much for the body, and misalignment occurs.
This can cause a wide variety of problems. In the instance of headaches, it’s often the case that a misalignment causes compression or irritation for the surrounding nerves. The nerves will then alert the surrounding muscles, like those in the back, neck, or jaw, to tighten. The tight muscles cause tension in the head and cause a headache or migraine.
When left untreated, this constant muscle tightness can cause bones to move out of alignment, leading to more headaches or migraine problems.
Because your spine is such a central part of the anatomy, issues here can impact your health across your entire body. Headaches or migraines are a strong indicator of poor spinal health. When left untreated, the problems can become worse, so it’s important to seek out help as soon as possible.
