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12 Warning Signs You’ll Never Actually Get Rid of Migraines

DEFINITION OF MIGRAINE ACCORDING TO MAYO CLINIC:

“A migraine is a headache that can cause severe throbbing pain or a pulsing sensation, usually on one side of the head. It’s often accompanied by nausea, vomiting, and extreme sensitivity to light and sound. Migraine attacks can last for hours to days, and the pain can be so bad that it interferes with your daily activities.

For some people, a warning symptom known as an aura occurs before or with the headache. An aura can include visual disturbances, such as flashes of light or blind spots, or other disturbances, such as tingling on one side of the face or in an arm or leg and difficulty speaking.”

THE BIGGEST PROBLEM WITH MIGRAINE IN HEALTHCARE

At least 39 million people live with migraine in the US alone. These people mostly rely on doctors to help them with their migraine but the issue is that it is really hard to tell if a doctor can ACTUALLY help or they’re just saying they can help.

With my experience helping countless people get relief from their migraines I am going to fill you in on some secrets and let you know what “warning” signs to look for to determine that you’ll never actually get rid of migraines and what to do to make a change!

I’m sure you might be rolling your eyes right now, or if you’re a provider you may be thinking this is ridiculous or hate on me…but maybe it’s because you’re feeding into this system.

SO…HERE ARE 12 WARNING SIGNS

WARNING SIGN #1: THEY SAY IT TAKES TIME

I’m guilty of this one…but wait wait wait. Yes everything takes time, especially when we are talking about healing. Everyone that comes into our office that has had migraines for at least over a year is notified that getting rid of your migraines isn’t going to happen with one adjustment. I think this is understandable and no one is confused by this. In my opinion if you are 3 months into getting care without experiencing any sort of changes in your health and the doctor is still telling you it takes time, I’d call it quits and move on.

Before you start care with any provider be sure to ask what sort of time table they are recommending and when you MIGHT start to see a change/impact on your health.

WARNING SIGN #2: YOUR DOCTOR NEVER SEARCHES FOR THE ROOT CAUSE

Root cause is one of those things that I think a lot of people believe in but sometimes don’t think it’s an actual thing. It’s as if they’ve had health issues for so long and have seen so many doctors without getting any results that the idea of a root cause must not apply. I understand that thinking totally. I have a lot of clients who are somewhat mind blown when they come in for initial testing and can’t believe that the information being presented hasn’t been given to them prior.

Once we start digging deeper into people’s health history we can start to uncover why they might be having certain symptoms and really start to tackle the root cause of people’s issues.

WARNING SIGN #3: EVERY PROVIDER TELLS YOU THAT IT’S ALL IN YOUR HEAD

Being told that your problem is all in your head and made up is the most ridiculous thing that a provider can tell someone who is dealing with real symptoms. Sure your problem may not be something that is visible to the outside world but that does not mean that it is not real. Sometimes the main issue is that a certain provider doesn’t have the tools necessary to actually see what is going on via objective measures. If you are currently experiencing this I am going to tell you to run out of that provider’s office.

There is zero chance that if you are experiencing migraines that it’s all in your head…yeah the pain and symptoms are in your head but I know for a fact that no one would make up the fact that they are experiencing migraines. I’ve struggled with bad headaches as a teenager and will still get them from time to time…so I KNOW that you are not making these up in your head.

On top of that if they are saying that it’s all in your head they don’t believe you even have a problem so there is no way that they can help you!

WARNING SIGN #4: YOUR PILLOW IS S****

Your pillow plays a bigger role than you think in regards to migraines. A lot of people think a pillow is just to get comfortable to sleep with, and to a point they are right. What’s wrong with that is for a lot of people there are multiple pillows that can feel comfortable for them but only one or two pillows that are actually correct.

If the pillow you use and the position in which you sleep is compromising the position your neck and spine are supposed to be in, it’s going to be really hard to get rid of your migraines. This may cause tension within your spine and nervous system. I always recommend people to sleep on either their back or side. This allows the neck and spine to stay in a neutral position, that is if you’re using the correct pillow! I actually wrote an entire article HERE about the best because I could go on and on about this topic. The article is about the best pillow for neck pain but the same information applies for migraines as well.

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WARNING SIGN #5: MIGRAINES ARE NEUROLOGICAL. HAVE YOU HAD A TEST OF YOUR NERVOUS SYSTEM?

Migraines being a neurological issue is a surprise to no one. What is often a surprise to people who suffer from migraines is the fact that they will go to a neurologist and the tests will come back negative…nothing wrong. When in fact there is definitely something wrong! This is why I always ask people if they have had testing of their nervous system done? A lot of people will tell me yes as they have been to a neurologist.

The problem is that a neurologist is usually only trained to look for some sort of lesion in the spinal cord or brain, not actually how everything is working as a whole. At The Specific we use computerized infrared thermography to perform a functional test of the nervous system. It actually shows us if the nervous system is working correctly or not. Something that separates us from a lot of other chiropractors and providers that use similar technology is that we use this at every single visit. It gives us indication whether something needs to happen on a particular visit or if the body is working properly, it also helps us determine if we are moving in the right direction with care or if a change needs to be made.

WARNING SIGN #6: YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT, BE SERIOUS ABOUT IT

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We are constantly learning more and more about diet and how it impacts our overall health. For the longest time medical doctors had barely any education in school about nutrition but that is starting to change. What I’ve noticed working with a lot of people with migraines is that they haven’t had any specific food sensitivity testing done. They’ve gone to a gastroenterologist and had some allergy testing done (which is good too) but oftentimes that isn’t enough.

The body can still have sensitivities to certain foods or food combinations that cause inflammation and can trigger migraine attacks. A food sensitivity test usually entails a small blood draw to help determine what inflammatory markers are present helping to tell you what foods you are able to eat and what foods you need to avoid. If you haven’t had any sort of nutritional testing done and don’t want to go that route yet I always recommend people eat mainly organic foods.

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WARNING SIGN #7: YOU’RE FORCED TO SIGN A BINDING CONTRACT

Signing a contract always feels yucky…no matter how sweet it seems. At least that’s how I always feel about them. The same should be said regarding contracts with a health practitioner. If you are forced to sign a contract that you can’t get out of regarding your healthcare I would run the other way! Sure there will almost always be some sort of financial agreement between you and the provider but if you ask them what happens if you decide to stop care and there isn’t a clear answer, stop right there and find someone else.

Even though something might work great for one person does not mean that it will work great for you, I can say that even about the care that I provide. Most people get really great results from it while others don’t see as large of a change. This warning also goes back to #1 regarding time, maybe they will tell you that you need to sign a contract because what they do takes time to see results, yes it may take time but to me that still doesn’t warrant the need to sign a contract.

Moral of the story is that you do need to expect things to take time regarding your healing but shouldn’t have to sign a contract to be under someone’s care.

WARNING SIGN #8: YOU’VE NEVER HAD BIOMECHANICAL X-RAYS TAKEN

We’ve already gone over the fact that migraines are a neurological issue but what can cause that? A lot of people also mention how they’ll have neck pain associated with their migraine. A misalignment of the top bones in the neck can definitely cause some neurological issues along with neck pain due to a muscle imbalance being caused.

A biomechanical set of x-rays is absolutely necessary for migraine resolution. It helps determine whether these top bones in the neck are moving correctly or incorrectly. If they aren’t moving how they’re supposed to be moving then we are definitely going to have an issue going on. This is something that only needs to be taken one time (unless you get into a major car accident or something like that).

With a biomechanical set of x-rays we actually put the head and neck into motion and take a picture at each point of motion. Based on medical research we can then look at the structure of your neck and see exactly what is going on. This also allows us to get as specific as we can possibly get for an adjustment to the upper neck area. Instead of going off of how things feel in your neck we are going off of the exact biomechanical issue that is present.

WARNING SIGN #9: SLEEP ISN’T YOUR FRIEND

A question I ask every single person at their initial appointment is how their sleep is. Everyone who struggles with headaches and migraines usually has a similar answer of….my sleep is alright. Which in my terms means that their sleep usually isn’t the greatest. This makes sense to me as their body is usually so out of whack that normal everyday functions become a little tougher.

It’s been shown that people with chronic migraine are more likely to have sleep apnea and sleep disorders increase the risk of chronic headaches and migraine. One of the main changes I’ll see in people that come in is improved sleep, usually they tell me that they are going to sleep easier and waking up feeling more rested than before.

Something that I’ll do for people is have them complete an at home sleep study, this can help us determine if sleep apnea is something that they have along with the severity. Depending on the results of that test we can look into a few different options of treatment that DO NOT include a CPAP machine which a lot of people appreciate.

If your sleep sucks then it makes sense to me why you struggle with migraine and vice versa.

WARNING SIGN #10: SNAP, CRACKLE, & POP EVERY VISIT

Trying chiropractic care if you’re struggling with migraine isn’t something that is usually new to someone. Most of the people I have seen in my office with migraines have tried chiropractic in the past with very little success. Once I go over their experience with their past chiropractor(s) I start to understand why they didn’t have much success. A lot of times they have gone to someone who has them come in 3 times a week and is adjusting them at every single visit.

This can be beneficial for some people but for most people with migraines this isn’t the best way to go about care. This goes back to WARNING #5, with getting your nervous system tested. The tool we use allows us to determine exactly when an adjustment is needed and when it is not. If we didn’t use this tool and adjust someone when their body didn’t require an adjustment what do you think would happen? How would they feel? Yeah they would feel pretty crappy, we would be going backwards in care instead of forwards! The nervous system is resilient but when it is already not working to its full potential the last thing it needs is more input.

If you’re going to a chiropractor who is adjusting you at every single visit, multiple times a week, it might be a good idea to look elsewhere.

WARNING SIGN #11: DO YOU HAVE A SERIES OF STRETCHES & EXERCISES?

Blah blah blah…I’m sure you’ve already heard that exercising can help with migraines and don’t want to hear it again. I get it! Last thing you want to do is exercise. At the same time I’m here to tell you that certain exercises and stretches can target areas in your neck that will help with your migraines. Just like the nervous system plays a key role in the management of migraines your musculature (which is controlled by the nervous system) also plays a role.

If we are experiencing extremely tight muscles in the head and neck area that can definitely cause headaches and migraines. The tight muscles can cause tension on specific nerves in your head and neck that are associated with pain along with headaches and migraines. The stretches and exercises I suggest to my clients are your normal strenuous things but rather super focused on specific areas to help with migraines. A muscular imbalance can make a world of difference in how you feel so getting everything back in balance is key. Looking up stretches and exercises that focus on the scalene muscles and SCM muscle of the neck can have huge implications in the management of migraines (I’ll make a guide for this sometime soon). In the meantime here you’ll find an instagram post of me showing some really easy scalene stretches that you can do once a day to help loosen up your muscles.

WARNING SIGN #12: SUPPORT YOUR NERVOUS SYSTEM

A lot of people don’t realize that supporting your nervous system is something that you can do at home. You don’t actually have to go to any provider to make changes within your nervous system. Every single moment of every single day your nervous system is working and responding to your experiences in life. Heck even if you’re able to change how you react mentally to certain things in life, that makes a change within your nervous system.

Have you ever had something happen to you and instead of feeling really mad or anxious, you decide that it’s actually comical and laugh instead? If you have, you know exactly what I’m talking about and that tension inside dissipates and you feel happy. Even if you’re having a bad day and you start to count the things you’re grateful for you’ll understand the impact your point of view has on your nervous system. Your nervous system is what is giving your body that feeling, whether it be from anger or happiness.

Luckily for you I’ve already created THE ULTIMATE NERVOUS SYSTEM RESET FOR MIGRAINES WITHOUT POPPING PILLS that you’re able to get for free.

I think it’s an amazing resource and provides some really easy at home ways to help reset your nervous system and keep it supported over time!

IN CONCLUSION

There are a lot of things you can do to help get rid of your migraines, some of them include providers, some of them include getting rid of providers, while others are totally free, at home things.

If you don’t agree with a handful of these tips that is totally fine, it’s your life. I truly believe that a lot of these are non-negotiables for people struggling with migraines. Just because a medical doctor doesn’t support your decision to do x,y, or z does not mean it’s wrong. Everything regarding your healthcare is controlled by you, please don’t forget that.

Migraines can be caused by a variety of things but what I’ve seen in the office while taking care of countless people with migraines is if your nervous system is out of whack you’re never going to truly get rid of your migraines. Heck even a lot of the quick fixes you see out there like medications, botox injections, etc are impacting the nervous system and either trying to change its function or trying to turn it off completely to cause you not to be able to feel pain.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this article as I’ve put a lot of effort into it, if you have any questions don’t hesitate to reach out and in the meantime be sure to