Migraine Research
Chiropractic treatment is effective for Headaches and Migraines. Research shows that it is both safer and more effective than painkillers.
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Migraine Variants and Chiropractic Treatment
Chiropractors are acutely aware that there are many different forms of migraine. This is one reason why, when the chiropractor take a case history it has to detailed, and the diagnosis of the condition can sometimes be an arduous process.
Some forms of migraine can present with severe symptoms and other possible more serious causes must be ruled out before a cause of migraine can be considered. We have outlined some important migraine variants on this page.
If you want to read about the more common types you can go to chiropractic and migraines.
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Childhood Migraine
This is often described as short lived and vicious. The onset occurs rapidly and is usually seen as a sudden paleness in skin colour, nausea, vomiting and sometimes blurred vision.
In some cases the symptoms of dizziness and spinning of the room and in others abdominal pain (abdominal migraine) may be worse that the headache itself. In fact under the age of 10, headache is rarely the main symptom.
In many cases the onset of these headaches is preceded by physical activity, as in some adult cases, however in childhood migraines the attacks often last only 15-20 minutes and are followed by complete recovery.
Vasospastic Migraine (otherwise known as Hemiplegic)
This type of migraine can be very frightening for the sufferer and it is essential that other causes of symptoms must be ruled out prior to the diagnosis of migraine.
The presentation of this type of migraine can vary largely. In severe cases there is usually a history of one-sided visual disturbance then followed by weakness and numbness on the same side of the body. More often than not this is accompanied by a severe headache. Usually following sleep there is complete resolution of the symptoms.
Another variant under this sub heading of migraine presents with an onset of tingling in the hand, lips and tongue of one side that then advances onto the face leaving numbness.
Sufferers often also experience some difficulty speaking and heaviness in the effected limb. These attacks evolve slowly over up to 10 minutes and persist for usually around 15-30 minutes with quick recovery afterwards. A headache may not be present at all.
Cluster Headache
This type of headache occurs rapidly. It is often felt as the sensation of tingling in the eye region and nostril of one side. This then rapidly progresses to severe pain often described as though a hot poker was being pushed into the eye. The nose becomes congested and starts to run and the effected eye becomes bloodshot.
The attacks normally occur during the night waking the patient from sleep and may occur 2-3 times per night with the patient quickly noting that they occur at the same time each time (most commonly 1am, 4am and 7am). They usually last from 30 minutes to 2 hours. It is most common in males.
The attacks usually occur daily for 6-12 weeks forming a ‘cluster’ of episodes and they can be seen to occur at the same time each year.
Diagnosis of this condition is often missed at it is so severely painful that the cause of a simple ‘migraine’ is often overlooked. When the correct diagnosis is made pharmacological intervention is usually very effective.
Chiropractic treatment also deal with many contributory factors or after effects including relieve of restriction in movement of the neck, muscle tension in the neck, upper back and shoulders and helping correct any postural issues that may influence the occurrence of both migraine and tension headaches.