
Do you feel like you’re on a constant merry go round of drugs? Trying medication after medication? Trying anything for some relief? Anything to feel normal?
Living Headaches and Migraines can have a debilitating effect on their sufferers. Day after Day of being tired, irritable, miserable, feeling foggy…… Sound familiar? No one really understands what you’re going through and the stress it is putting on your ability to function normally on day to day basis is only increasing.
Every week at our clinic we hear statements like
- “I FEEL LIKE MY HEAD IS IN A VICE”
- “I FEEL SO CLOUDY, MY EYES HURT”
- “I HAVE TO LAY DOWN”
- “I HAVE TO CLOSE MY EYES”
- “I HAVE HAD THESE MIGRAINES FOR YEARS”
- “I AM SO SICK AND TIRED OF STRUGGLING DAY TO DAY”
- “I HAVE FORGOTTEN WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO FEEL NORMAL”
Migraine is the third most common disease in the world (behind dental and tension-type headache) with an estimated global prevalence of 14.7% (that’s around 1 in 7 people).
Chronic migraine affects approximately 2% of the world population.
Imagine being able to live pain free.
We see many people of all ages who have tried treatment after treatment of alternative therapies to try to alleviate some of their symptoms and give some kind of relief. These include chiropractic, physiotherapy, acupuncture, massages and of course pharmaceutical drugs.
Since the addition of cold laser therapy at our clinic on we have found an extremely useful and effective alternative to traditional chiropractic and acupuncture methods already used at our clinic. We have found that not only do our patients get quicker results through a reduction in pain but they also appreciate the painless non-invasiveness of the cold laser. It is completely painless.
Nearly 100% of Headache and Migraine sufferers have had a previous neck injury or trauma. Medical research has shown that most headaches are caused by damages structures around the neck like joints, ligaments, muscles and cervical discs. All which have highly innervated nerve endings and pain receptors. This leads to a physiological change in the muscles and structures that support the head and neck. These structures often suffer microscopic stretching or tearing.
These are known as first degree tears. If left unchecked these can lead to moderate tearing of the collagenous fibres which results in some loss of structural integrity. And often a deeper sensation of pain. These are classed as second degree tears. Often these tears require 2-3 weeks of rest and rehabilitation. Cold laser therapy is most valuable during this phase as its helps with cell proliferation and regeneration.
Third degree tears are the most serious and are often a result on impact injury such as whiplash from a car accident of a sudden impact playing sport. These injuries have a major disruption to structural integrity, there is a large loss of motion and often accompanied by swelling and bruising. What happens when my injury is healing?
There are 4 phases of the inflammatory response process to soft tissue injury.
- INFLAMMATION PHASE – THIS RESULTS IN AN INCREASE IN WHITE BLOOD CELL ACTIVITY. THIS LEADS TO ESSENTIAL SCAR TISSUE AND MATRIX FORMATION WITHIN THE FIRST WEEK OF INJURY.
- CELLULAR PROLIFERATION PHASE – THIS WHERE THERE IS AN INCREASED VASCULARISATION TO THE TISSUE, WHICH RESULTS IN INCREASE IN OXYGEN AND TISSUE REPAIR. COLD LASER THERAPY PLAYS A LARGE ROLL IN THIS PHASE AS IS HELPS INCREASE OXYGEN SUPPLY TO THE AFFECTED AREA WHICH PROVIDES SUPERIOR HEALING CAPABILITIES AT A CELLULAR LEVEL.
- REMODELLING PHASE – THIS TAKES PLACE AT 6-8 WEEKS POST INJURY. IN THIS PHASE VASCULARITY OR BLOOD SUPPLY STARTS TO DECREASE AND THE COLLAGEN FIBRES START TO BECOME DENSER AND TIGHTLY PACKED.
- MATURATION PHASE – THIS TAKES MONTHS. THIS IS WHERE THIS IS STILL SCAR TISSUE LEFT FROM THE REPAIR PHASE. IN THIS PHASE THE COLD LASER HELPS TO PENETRATE BENEATH THE SKINS SURFACE TO HELP BREAK DOWN THE DENSE SCAR TISSUE FORMATION AND HELP RETURN THE AREA TO NORMAL FUNCTION.
All treatment at our clinic is aimed to
- RETRAIN PROPRIOCEPTION
- INCREASE BLOOD SUPPLY TO THE AFFECTED TISSUE
- REDUCE ADHESIONS AND SCAR TISSUE
- INCREASE STRENGTH.
- EDUCATE YOU IN PREVENTATIVE MEASURES IN THE FORM OF EXERCISES, POSTURAL CHANGES AND MAYBE ALTERING A FEW LIFESTYLE FACTORS THAT MAY BE CONTRIBUTING TO YOUR CONDITION.
- GET YOU OUT OF PAIN, QUICKLY.
Tension headaches can be classed into 3 main categories.
- INFREQUENT EPISODIC — HEADACHES THAT OCCUR LESS THAN ONCE PER MONTH
- FREQUENT EPISODIC — HEADACHES THAT OCCUR 1-14 TIMES PER MONTH
- CHRONIC — HEADACHES THAT HAPPEN 15 DAYS OR MORE IN A MONTH
These are often the headaches and migraines caused by prolonged postural stress and imbalance. Overtime, incorrect postural stress will lead to minute tears within the ligaments and muscles. These little stresses can build up and become a chronic condition that hinders with your day to day ability to think clearly and move freely.
A randomized controlled trial compared six weeks of spinal manipulative treatment of tension-type headache by chiropractors to six weeks of medical treatment with amitriptyline, a medication often prescribed for the treatment of severe tension headache pain. Researchers found that chiropractic patients experienced fewer side effects (82.1%) and while both were effective during the treatment phase of the study, only the chiropractic patients continued to report fewer headaches when treatment ended. Boline, PD, Kassak, K, et al. “Journal of Manipulative and Physiological therapeutics.” March/April 1995; Vol. 18, No. 3, pp.148-154
How we can help you?
We have be dealing with headaches and migraine sufferers for over 8 years. We have devised a very effective protocol for the cause and diagnosis of the condition and the most effective treatment for your specific problem. Using the latest heat/thermal imaging techniques (Diagnostic X-rays if required) we isolate the site of your problem. We establish what the likely cause of your problem is, how it may have happened and how long it has been present. We also identify what soft tissue structures have been damaged and what repair is necessary. After we gather this information we are able to guide you in what treatment options will be most beneficial for your specific condition.
The combination of laser therapy, chiropractic and dry needling used at our clinic give our patients a huge advantage in reducing recovery and getting them out of pain.
Let us help you like we have help thousands before. Give our office a call and start living again.