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Posture Headaches – What is that?

Posture Headaches - What is that?

Have you or anybody you know ever experienced a headache or headache-like symptoms? If you answered yes, you are among the almost 95% of the general population that have experienced a headache at some point in their life. (1)

Headaches account for 1 of 5 acute medical admissions and are classified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as one of the top ten causes of disability, with an impact similar to arthritis, diabetes, and worse than asthma. (2,3,4,5)

Headaches are among the most common disorders of the nervous system and come in a variety of types. However, headaches must be properly examined to determine the cause, as headaches can be a secondary symptom of some serious health conditions such as tumors, infection, and hemorrhage.

Some of the most common types of headaches include:

  • Migraine
  • Tension headache
  • Cervicogenic headache

How are headaches treated?

Traditionally, like most health disorders or pains, headaches are treated with medication to dull the symptoms. Do you think headaches are a “normal” part of life that just come and go as they please? I am here to tell you that pain of any form is a way of your body to signal that it needs attention. Pain, including headache pain, is not a sign that your body is lacking any certain medication.

As the Father of Western Medicine, Hippocrates, once said, “Look well to the spine for the cause of disease”. The spine and nervous system, when evaluated appropriately, reveal many answers to discomfort, pain, and disease in the body.

Chiropractic Biophysics® (CBP®) + Headaches

Chiropractors have been helping people with migraines, tension headaches, and cervicogenic headaches for countless years. Recent studies show that common postural distortions like forward head posture and hyperkyphosis can be contributing factors for headaches and resolution of these postural distortions also resolve the headache disorders.

A 2018 study showed a 32 year old male patient with chronic headaches for seven years who had seen five different MDs, undergone multiple imaging tests, and received multiple prescription, thirteen steroid injections and was also recommended spine surgery, which he denied. This patient was on long-term disability due to the headaches.

Results: Upon re-assessment, the patient reported to be 90% improved for the primary complaint of mid back pain as well as headaches and dizziness. He reported his back pain to average 1/10.

The green line indicates normal ideal cervical lordosis, red line highlights the patient's posterior vertebral body margins.Fig. 1. Lateral cervical radiographs. Left: Initial (8/28/17); Right: Follow-up (12/6/17). Green line indicates normal ideal cervical lordosis; red line highlights patient posterior vertebral body margins (CBP Seminars, Inc.). (6)

Lateral cervical radiographs. Left: Initial (8/28/17); Right: Follow-up (12/6/17). Green line indicates normal ideal cervical lordosis; red line highlights patient posterior vertebral body margins (CBP Seminars, Inc.). (6)

Conlusion: Posture-related pain and disability is not often addressed in allopathic medicine but substantial posture improvements are achievable in short time periods as this case illustrates. Poor postures in young patients should be corrected to avoid long-term consequences.” (6)

Can Chiropractic Biophysics® help me?

The law of the instrument states that if the only tool you have is a hammer, you will treat everything as if it were a nail. Human beings are inherently different. Not every condition has a chiropractic resolution. As CBP® trained chiropractors, we specialize in a thorough health history consultation and examination to determine if the condition is a chiropractic case. If you are unsure what is causing your condition, talk with a CBP® trained chiropractor to determine the best course of action.

References

1. Stovner L, Hagen K, Jensen R, et al. The global burden of headache: a documentation of headache prevalence and disability worldwide. Cephalalgia 2007; 27: 193–210. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

2. Weatherall MW. Acute neurology in a twenty-first century district general hospital. J R Coll Physicians Edinb 2007; 36: 196–200. [Google Scholar]

3. World Health Organisation. World health report. WHO, Geneva, 2001. [Google Scholar]

4. Solomon GD, Price KL. Burden of migraine: a review of its socioeconomic impact. Pharmacoeconomics 1989; 11: 1–10. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

5. Terwindt GM, Ferrari MD, Tijhuis M, et al. The impact of migraine on quality of life in the general population: the GEM study. Neurology 2000; 55: 624–629. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

6. Fortner MO, Oakley PA, Harrison DE. Alleviation of chronic spine pain and headaches by reducing forward head posture and thoracic hyperkyphosis: a CBP® case report. J Phys Ther Sci. 2018;30(8):1117-1123. doi:10.1589/jpts.30.1117

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