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Monmouth Spine and Rehabilitation Center and the Treatment of Headaches

To determine if you or someone you know is a candidate for our Red Bank Monmouth County facility's care and treatment of headaches, contact our office today for a no-obligation evaluation.

Most headaches stem from issues in the neck. These are called cervicogenic headaches and research suggests that these types of headaches make up greater than 75% or more than three out of four headaches.

The first line of treatment for most Americans is over the counter painkillers. This method provides temporary relief for most people, however over time you will increase your risk of more headaches and adverse reactions to medication. When taken in excess, analgesics such as aspirin, acetaminophen and ibuprofen create what is called “analgesic rebound effect.” This is a type of chemical dependency that actually increases the frequency of your headaches. Headache medications do not fix the cause of your headaches; they simply mask the pain and symptoms. The cause of your headaches and pain needs to be found before permanent relief can be obtained.

The majority of headaches are not caused by problems with our head or skull. This may seem odd since the different areas of our head or base of our skull is where we feel the pain during headache episodes. However, according to the studies, the majority (80%) of headaches are caused by problems associated with the muscles, ligaments, joints and nerves of our middle and upper neck region.

One of the most common causes of problems in our middle and upper neck region is poor posture and a change in the shape and position of our neck curve. The human neck must have a good curve when viewed from the side (see Figure A below). When people are involved in automobile accidents, falls in which they land on their head, neck, or backs, and poor working conditions, the normal neck curve may change its shape and position (see Figures B-G).

3) In studies which deal strictly with individuals suffering from headaches the most common finding is that the majority of headache sufferers have unhealthy neck curves (see Figure B-G). For instance, in a study of 47 people with migraine and tension type headaches, it was found that “77% of all subjects and 89% of females exhibited a marked reduction, absence or reversal of the normal neck curve.” A recent study published in the medical journal HEADACHE was carried out on 372 patients with headaches. This medical study also found that the people with headaches have straight necks from the side or curves gong the wrong way compared to the normal curve.

4) Many studies have been performed to see which type of treatments are the most beneficial for headache sufferers. For example, an article published in the medical journal SPINE compared Chiropractic adjusting with different medications, physical therapy, cold packs, acupuncture, etc. Almost without exception chiropractic adjustments were found to be superior in reducing tension headache frequency and intensity. The reason that Chiropractic is the best treatment for most headaches is that chiropractors treat the cause of the headache. Chiropractors look at the alignment of your neck and the shape of your neck. When performed properly, Chiropractic treatment is the method of treatment that can change unhealthy necks (Figures B-G) into a healthy, normal neck (Figure A).