When people come into my office seeking help for their headaches, we are usually the last place they have tried. Early in practice, I often wondered why chiropractic care was the very LAST thing patient's resorted to for help. Eventually, I caught onto the realization that people just had NO IDEA that chiropractic care could help them to begin with. The even bigger problem was that most people have been to several doctors and specialists without any results. So whats missing here?
"Over 80% of all types headaches are cervicogenic, meaning they are generated in the cervical spine of the neck. The other 20% of cases are related to toxins, mental stress, and lifestyle habits that the patient has yet to explore"
-Dr. Henk
Why Docs Aren't Telling Their Patient's This:
There are many different doctors to choose from when you have a health issue; DC, MD, and DO to name a few. Doctors of Chiropractic and Medicine or Osteopathy are trained to look at the body differently. Chiropractor's focus on the relationship of the spine and nerve system because of its ability to maintain proper function of the entire body. Medicine is focused on the relationship of disease and its effect on the individual parts of the body. One looks at the body as a whole connected body and the other looks at is a machine with individual parts.
The reason many people are unable to resolve their headaches naturally is because their doctor is blaming headaches on disease and bad genes while treating the pieces of symptoms separately. Instead they should be focusing on the whole person and searching for interference to the innate wisdom that is self regulating the body.
To begin healing the whole person from within, we have to look at the source of headaches as an interference within as opposed to a disease from the outside. These interferences can be either physical, chemical, and emotional. Disharmony between any of these areas will create the symptoms of a headaches...just know that the headache is NOT THE PROBLEM it is the effect of the problem(s).
TOP 3 Causes of headaches that Your Doctor Probably Hasn't Explored:
1. There is a Loose Screw In Your head:
You have probably been asked at some point in your life if you have a screw loose in your head. Most of the time it's from our parents after we do something completely out of the ordinary. But did you know that there is actually a screw that can become loosened in your head and neck? Not only does such a screw exist, but it has been the cause of over 80% of all the headaches and migraines in my office.
Vertebral Subluxation Complex occurs when the upper neck bones of the spine become misaligned from an injury or repetitive bad posture. This misalignment will cause the fluids in the neck to flow incorrectly, pressure upon nerves, and narrowing of blood vessels. If the subluxation has been there for some time or is severe enough, it usually causes death and damage to normal tissue.
Every case of headaches and migraines have been associated with prior impacts to the head from a variety of sources such as sports, car accidents, slips and falls, and other accidents. Usually the subluxation is overlooked by the typical doctor and the problem will become worse with repetitive stress to the head and neck. Special diagnostic protocols such as infrared thermography, posture analysis, and x-ray imaging are needed to care for areas of spinal subluxation.
Proper locatation, analysis, and correction of Subluxation should only be performed by a doctor of chiropractic trained in upper cervical care. Upper Cervical Chiropractic is a strict discipline within Holistic Healing that focuses on screwing your head back on straight so that your body can function naturally.
2. Rebound Effect's from Chemical Toxicity :
Every natural chemical of the body is created, fine tuned, and released by the brain to have a specific rhythm and effect for your life. The brain uses chemicals to digest food, create and burn energy, repair damaged cells, and generate nerve impulses. These same chemicals that digest our food come from the building blocks within the food and complete the metabolic cycles of life.
Vitamins, minerals, and essential molecules are farmed in the gut by the bacteria and then transported using the nerves, arteries, and veins to the various organs and packaging centers. Each organ creates a specific chemical for a specific function in the body. Without the proper building blocks, the body will rob nutrients and alter body functioning. This will lead to "rebound effects" caused by fluctuating hormone chemicals and thyroid regulation of oxygen and metabolism. A simple loss of 3% of body oxygen or 2% loss of water is enough to trigger a headache or migraine.
Abnormal chemicals that are brought directly into the body through food, drink, inhalation, and other routes are normally filtered through by the liver. However, when there are too many toxins in the blood stream, the liver will slow down and the toxins will build up and deposit in the organs.
Chemicals such as poly-carbon parabens found in plastic containing compounds such as cosmetics, shampoos, water bottles, and packaging are known hormone inhibitors. Neurotoxins such as such as aluminum, lead, mercury, fluoride, chlorine, formaldehyde can be found in vaccines, cigarettes, food, air, and especially drinking water. Pesticides, herbicides, preservatives, and MSG are also neurotoxins will destroy the gut where healthy chemicals are made and kill nerve cells in the brain. Even the prescription drugs and medications are building up and slowing down the liver and causing rebound effects. Rebound effects from chemicals will cause headaches, migraines, and many other health issues along with it.
Every patient that we work with is screened for chemical toxicities as a possible cause. Not only that, but we work them through a process to test which chemicals are abnormally building up in the body. We then offer natural methods to detoxify and rejuvenate the cells that have been damaged.
3. Emotional Overload Syndrome :
Believe it or not, emotions utilize more energy than any other process in the body. That is because the whole purpose of the body is so that you can have a conscious experience of life...free of headaches and pains. The brain uses all of the body's energy to give you life. Life is a spiritually emotional experience between the realities of the mental and physical worlds.
Emotional overload is something I see a lot with people suffering with headaches because our brains are constantly being stimulated by different things that immediately create fluctuations in emotional state. We live in a time where if something doesn't hold our interest for more than 30 seconds, our mind will wander to the next entertaining thing. Jumping from one emotional task to another may seem like a good trait to have, but emotional multitasking is actually a cause of all the headaches!
Relaxing the mind and focusing on one task at a time will keep brain chemicals firing in a fluid state and the brain will no longer feel like it is being pulled in different directions. It will prevent brain stress which causes inflammation of the meninges surrounding the brain and improves circulation of cerebral spinal fluid. Research shows that as a little as 15 minutes of meditation, sensory deprivation, or neuralfeedback therapy will alter brainwaves to the Alpha and Theta state of relaxation. This allows blood vessels in the head and neck to calm and muscles to lose their tension and assume normal tone.
Binaural Beats is a new and emerging technique that utilizes alternating sound wavelengths to help the brain. I use this technique during all of my patient visits while they rest following any type of care. A good 15-30 minute session usually calms the brain frequency to a healing state so that the mind can recenter itself and normalize its chemicals.
I hope you found value from reading this article! Please share with anyone you know who is in search of hope and healing for themselves and their family.
Yours in Health,
Dr. Josh
CEO - Transcendence Family Wellness Center
Upper Cervical Doctor Chiropractic
Masters in Nutrition and Human Performance
(586) 943-0584