What Causes Headaches?

Headaches often begin in your spine.  Poor posture or an injury may force your vertebrae out of alignment which puts pressure on nerves and blood vessels.  These nerves then send painful signals to the neck muscles, the neck muscles tighten up, and a headache may start.  Other headache triggers may include caffeine, stress, allergies, smoking, alcohol, disease, and nutrition deficiencies.

A chiropractor treats headaches by locating misaligned vertebrae in your neck or spine and then gently repositioning the vertebrae.  These adjustments can help ease your headache by restoring alignment, improving mobility, and relieving pain and stiffness.

Other treatments that your chiropractor may recommend to help relieve your headaches include:

• moist heat
• ice packs
• trigger point therapy
• traction
• exercise
• physical therapy

There are some things you can do to prevent headaches.  Keep your spine aligned whether sitting, standing, or lying down. Ask your chiropractor for simple exercises that you can do to strengthen your neck muscles.  Avoiding alcohol, caffeine, and cigarettes may help too.  Also spending some time each day to relax will help prevent stress headaches.