Can Chiropractic Care Help Treat Chronic Migraines?
Migraines can be crippling. These extremely painful headaches can contribute to a complete decline in the overall quality of life, as they can require individuals to place themselves in dark, silent places for hours on end. Even the slightest beam of light or the softest sound can dramatically alter the course of a migraine and worsen the condition of the individual overall.
Migraines can strike at anytime, leaving us helpless to move through the rest of the day as physical activity and positional changes of the body can also lead to the migraine getting worse.
So many individuals believe that migraines are simply headaches and that there is nothing that can be done to prevent these headaches. Headaches often occur as a result of pressure of the brain after being pushed up against the skull, as well as some nerve endings being cut off in the neck and cervical spine, which contribute to chronic pain in these parts of the central nervous system. The nervous system runs through the entire body - so if there's nerve pressure one place, it can actually cause pain in another.
One of the more unconventional contributions to the development of migraines can actually be rooted in the jaw. Specifically, there is a joint that in the part of the musculoskeletal system that is called the Temporomandibular Joint and if there is a problem with the alignment of this joint, then there is a high likelihood that the neurons in this region are being impinged, resulting in pain and discomfort.
The temporomandibular joint is actually composed of strictly ligaments and connective tissues, leaving the bottom jaw sort of floating free without any true joint connection. This leaves the jaw in an extremely precarious position and wide open to the potential for misalignment. If this misalignment is putting pressure on major neural pathways running to and from the brain, migraines are not just likely; they are almost a certainty.
Chiropractors can look elsewhere throughout the body to determine what may be contribution to a misalignment in the temporomandibular joint. With a series of chiropractic adjustments, we can put our jaw in the right position and ensure that there is proper communication throughout the nerves in the jaw, the neck, and the top of the spinal cord. In doing so, migraines can become as thing of the past.
Used under Creative Commons Licensing courtesy of Matt Brown