As everyone is probably already aware, one of the most common conditions I witness on a regular basis in my clinic in Crown Point, IN is headaches. Headaches are all diverse with a complex multitude of causes and factors; however, I have found that in most all cases the solution is simple.

Why Do You Get Headaches?

The causes for headaches are plentiful. They can be divided into structural causes, such as neck and jaw problems, or physiological causes like hormonal imbalance and dietary issues. Here at Optimal Chiropractic in Crown Point we specialize in solutions to eliminate both types of causes through chiropractic, nutritional, and toxicity protocols.

Headache Culprit #1: YOUR NECK

One of the most common causes for chronic and persistant headaches is due to the upper bones in the neck becoming misaligned and tilted. This can occur secondary to any kind of injury such as a car accident, sports injury, fall, etc. It also occurs as a result of poor posture. Sitting for long hours at a stretch in front of the computer, especially with poor posture, can lead to cumulative deficits within the spine, especially the neck. People lose the natural “C” curvature of their neck and it becomes straighter, or even worse, they develop a reverse “C” curve.
The main culprit of the reverse C curve is of course our lifestyles! Think of how many hours you spend at a computer desk or staring down at your phone and you will know exactly what I mean. The typical skull weighs about 10 pounds; however, with a reversed C curve that weight will actually quadruple due to gravitational forces causing your head to now weight up 50 pounds! Think about the compression that is putting on your nerves, pain cells, blood vessels, etc! These cells will control things such as blood pressure, breathing, heart beat, and of course headaches.

Headache culprit #2: TMJ

There is correlation between headaches and chronic jaw (TMJ) problems, but it is often missed. TMJ issues are common in today’s lifestyle. Stress is touted by many to be one of the causative factors. It is more prevalent in men than women. Grinding, clenching and clicking at the jaw are some of the most common causes. But people tend to go to doctors when they are in pain, not necessarily due to clenching or grinding. Clenching and grinding are notorious for wear and tear of the teeth but they also cause excessive spasm and tightness within the jaw muscles. If this spasm and tightness is not relieved, it causes a tilt in the jaw bone also called the mandible. This results in a tilt in the head to relieve the pressure from the jaw, another cause of neck problems and headaches. So you can see how a chronic problem can cause secondary issues leading to headaches.

Headache Culprit #3: Dietary Components

There truly is a correlation with nutrition and headaches. It is very common for food triggers to flare up intense headaches and migraines for the simple fact that your body is not accustomed to those foods. Some of the greatest headache triggers are alcohol and caffeine, due to the fact that both severely dehydrate the body and many people do not increase their water intake when consuming these things. Other food triggers often include things like gluten, dairy, nitrites, food additives, or MSG. There are protocols I do at Optimal Chiropractic to discover the exact culprit with food sensitivities.

Solution for Lifelong Relief

Headaches always have different symptoms, intensities, durations, etc; however, the only way to truly get rid of the nagging pain is to distinguish what the root cause is for the underlying headache. Is it a structural misalignment that can be fixed with adjustments or is it more based on the systemic and dietary components of the body. At Optimal Chiropractic in Crown Point, I take pride in distinguishing these two things in order to truly fix the issue. I do a full, diagnostic examination to discover the underlying causes to your pain and put together a route for relief. I not only utilize chiropractic manipulation and adjustments, but I will also do an extensive dietary and lifestyle consultation with you to better understand the entire mechanism of your headache pain. Don’t continue suffering! Call today to set up your consultation and my staff and myself will lead you to lifelong relief of your pain.