What are headaches?
Everybody has them from time to time: headaches, or what is clinically termed as cephalalgia. Ranging from manageable headaches to severe ones, the Harper Wellness & Rehab Center is one of the most prime locations in the Houston area catering to patients who experience recurring headaches. Our doctors understand that in terms of a patient’s functionality in daily activities, headaches can be an ordeal and our specially trained doctors serve clients during their rehabilitation. Consulting the Harper Wellness & Rehab Center is a starting step to accurately diagnosing your condition and with our doctors and staff you’ll instantly feel that you’re in the process of healing.
Let’s begin with an overview looking at a variety of headaches.
1) Migraines
2) Tension Headaches
3) Cluster Headaches
Migraines
Migraines usually occur in about 15% of the US population, about 28 million Americans. Significantly among those cases, 75% of women experience migraines on a recurring basis. Migraines occur from obstruction of arteries in the brain, which leads to dilation of those arteries that result in a lesser blood flow which in turn causes pressure and pain. They can last anywhere from 2 hours to even extreme cases of 72 hours. There’s no particular basis for why migraines occur, but certain triggers are but aren’t limited to:
- Stress
- Fatigue From A Lack of Sleep and Exhaustion
- Hunger
- The Sort of Lighting In A Room
- Air Quality
- Pregnancy, Menopausal Symptoms and Menstruation In Women
All of these triggers produce not only pain in patients, but are often accompanied by oversensitivity to sound, vomiting and nausea. Many people experiencing migraines have reported that they’ve experienced “auras” or visionary symptoms such flashing lights or a sensory dreamy atmosphere.
Tension Headaches
A tension headache is the most common form of headache and accounts for nearly 90% of them. Many people who experience one comment on persistent pressure of the head. Other parts of the body often involved include the eyes, back, and neck. It is said that pain occurs on both sides of the head simultaneously. They can range from mild but can also be very severe. The average tension headache usually lasts in minutes but can also be as severe as several hours or even months.
The triggers that cause tension headaches are often identical to the ones that cause migraines. Another trigger that causes tension headaches is bad posture. Although they can be severe, symptoms aren’t as intense as vomiting or nausea.
Tension headaches chiefly are caused by tension of the muscles around the neck and head. A muscle called “rectus capitis posterior minor” which is attached to a tendon between the upper part of the neck and base of the skull experiences a spasm and affects a sensitive tissue called “dura mater” that causes a tension headache to occur. Patients and clients who sit for long periods of time tend to have these sort of headaches. Another cause might be those recovering from a car accident who have experienced whiplash.
Cluster Headaches
A cluster headache is quite possibly the worst kind of headache that only happens rarely in people. It occurs on one side of the head and sufferers report an extreme pain behind the eyes. In the American population, cluster headaches affect 1 million people and they’re almost always exclusively male. The pain is extreme however the duration of a cluster headache is very short, usually 15 minutes but has been known to last for even 3 hours. The term “cluster” is given to this headache because these headaches occur up to 4 times per day for a period of several days. After this duration of days have passed, cluster headaches may recur after many months or years.
Coming to the Harper Wellness & Rehab Center for Headaches
Confirming research has shown that chiropractic care and adjustments are very effective, especially in dealing with tension headaches. In 1995 alone, it was estimated that close to 50 million people sought help through chiropractic care for treatment for recurring headaches according to the National Institutes of Health. A significant number of migraine sufferers have reported reduction in their symptoms throughout the duration of their treatment. Spinal adjustments almost always provide for instant relief for headaches originating from the neck and have been more effective than most prescriptions for pain. As proof, those patients and clients who had abstained from treatment after about 4 weeks of chiropractic care continued to have relief from symptoms than those who were taking only prescriptions to deal with their pain.
If you would like to experience relief from recurring headaches, consult the Harper Wellness & Rehab Center for effective and thorough care from our professional staff and we’ll diagnose your specific headache and provide you with treatment that will improve your chances of managing your headaches in the future.