Chiropractic Manipulation for Migraine Headaches

As a practicing chiropractor for over 20 years, I have encountered countless patients suffering from chronic migraine headaches. Migraine sufferers are very common, and it is a condition that can cause great disability creating loss of work, loss of ability to enjoy life, etc. Migraines can be very painful and extremely unpleasant. Migraine sufferers often need pain medicine to reduce symptoms if they are severe.

Many of the patients I have seen for migraines were very excited to try something new, all-natural, and did not require drugs. Well, I am glad to say that even after 12 years at our current location, I still see some of the same patients that suffer from migraines and they report that although they still get migraines, incidents are less often, less severe and they have less need for medicines. This is good news for people suffering from migraines that have never tried chiropractic manipulation!

What is a migraine?

Migraines represent one subset of headaches that typically involve severe throbbing or pulsating pain on one side of the head. This pain may linger for an extended period of time, usually between two hours and three days.

In addition, migraine pain is commonly associated with a variety of physical symptoms including:

• Nausea
• Sensitivity to light (photophobia)
• Sensitivity to sound (phonophobia)
• Vomiting

In addition, there are usually triggers that activate the migraine headache into an attack mode where the patient goes into a painful state. The triggers can be emotional, smells, sounds, and various stimuli. It gets even more complex in trying to understand the mechanisms of what’s going on in the nervous system. I am not going to bore and mystify you with all the science, that’s for the neurologist.

With migraine treatment, I will keep it simple. If you are having severe pain from migraines or don’t know what is causing your pain, you can see your primary care medical doctor to check on it. Likely you will be given a prescription for medications as the only solution.

If you are interested in an alternative treatment that does have research to support it as being helpful in alleviating symptoms, you can see a chiropractor who performs the correct cervical spinal manipulation. As a healthcare provider who is interested in helping patients get the right treatment and care, I like that the patient first sees their medical doctors and gets the correct diagnosis.

Many of these patients will see a neurologist, pain doctor, get an MRI and/or nerve tests to confirm the diagnosis. After they know their condition and have some medication treatment, they can now try new options to see if they can help improve their condition naturally.

Chiropractic cervical spinal manipulation

Chiropractic cervical spinal manipulation is a great way to improve spinal health. Spinal health is the foundation of good physical functioning in the body.

Good spinal health = Good movement ability = Good physical function = Good state of health.

There are many different joints, ligaments, muscles, and bones that comprise the cervical spine that can be involved in migraine headaches.

Poor physical function = Poor posture and movement ability = Poor state of health.

The body was created for movement and any type of health restoration to the physical body needs to have movement in mind. Chiropractic cervical spinal manipulation is a known way to improve spinal joint functioning. Better range of motion, improved flexibility, better circulation, and usually less pain and more wellness.

In fact, cervical spinal manipulation is so effective that now Physical Therapists are taught to perform this to help their patients. Also, Osteopathic Doctors are taught how to perform it for the same reasons. Chiropractors have been performing spinal manipulations for over a hundred years and have helped more patients than any other group of healthcare providers, now you have physical therapists and doctors of osteopathy doing the same thing because it really works!

If you are suffering from migraine headaches and want to try some natural options, now you know that chiropractic cervical spinal manipulation is a well-known treatment that has been researched and has been shown to be effective for migraine pain.

For more information on how we can help you here in Whittier, CA please give us a call at (562) 698-7161 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..