THE specific BLOG

Chiropractic for Migraines

There is nothing worse than having to battle migraines day in and day out. There are a ton of remedies available but a lot of people search out chiropractic for migraines. The tricky part is that not all chiropractors are equal. There are tons of different techniques utilized by chiropractors. Which makes finding a chiropractor to help your migraine somewhat challenging if you don’t know what to look for or the right questions to ask.

Let’s first get into why you might want a chiropractor if you’re suffering from migraines. Often when we see people in our office who struggle with migraines we aren’t their first stop. They’ve usually already tried medication like Excedrin or Imitrex, which can get pricey over time! People have been to neurologists with not much help along with trying massage. I will say that if you have the right massage therapist they can work wonders for you!

Chiropractic for Migraines

How might chiropractic help for migraines? I think this is a question that a lot of people have unless they have experienced it first hand for themselves. Migraine is considered a neurological disorder, this helps us determine how chiropractic might be able to help. More specifically according to this study migraine is a chronic sympathetic nervous system disorder.

The sympathetic nervous system is in charge of our fight, flight, or freeze response, or what I like to call our survival response. It’s important that the response works correctly when needed, the problem is a lot of people are chronically stuck in this response. If we are stuck in this response it is going to be really difficult for the body to do any sort of healing.

The study referenced above showed that migraine shares significant features of autonomic failure and multiple system atrophy. This means that there is a massive issue going on with not just the sympathetic nervous system but the entire autonomic nervous system as a whole.

This is where chiropractic can really come into play. There is a common idea out there that chiropractic is all about aligning bones, helping low back and neck pain, and making sure your posture is all good. To some extent this is true but it is much bigger than that! Chiropractic is actually focused on the functioning of the nervous system. THIS is how chiropractic can really help people with migraine. Making sure people’s posture is correct and all of that stuff can certainly help migraine but if the nervous system isn’t working properly then we are still going to have issues.

What we do at The Specific

At The Specific Chiropractic Center our main goal is to help the nervous system work at its optimal potential. We do in depth functional nervous system testing at the first appointment along with nervous system testing at every appointment after. This testing helps us determine whether a specific adjustment is needed or not.

So many people who have experienced migraine have gone to chiropractors before coming into our office and explain how it didn’t help and how they would get adjusted at every visit and would sometimes walk out feeling better and sometimes feeling worse. By measuring the nervous system it allows us to be certain whether an adjustment is warranted at that visit or not. This also helps us get your body on a path towards help in the long run. Think of it being on a constant upward trajectory. I am not saying that there will not be tough times during this healing process but overall we are constantly progressing.

During the beginning phases of care a lot of people will explain how they still get migraines but they are able to get rid of it faster, decrease the symptoms easier and it won’t be as intense as before. Overtime we see a decrease in symptoms and prevalence of migraines. Oftentimes people will mention how they can’t even remember the last time they had a migraine once care is completed. With that being said there are other factors that go into healing this sort of thing. Diet plays a roll and making sure you’re staying away from inflammatory foods, doing things like cryotherapy has shown huge benefits for people struggling with migraines,

Overall chiropractic for migraines is a really great solution for people who are looking to get relief and resolution without having to depend on medication for the rest of their lives. If you are looking for a chiropractor regarding your migraines make sure they focus on working with the nervous system and have some sort of analysis that determines whether an adjustment is needed or not during your visit. If you’re close to our office and would like to make an appointment or would like us to look for a chiropractor for you shoot us a call or message!