Headaches and other pain

Causes of headaches

Headaches are one of the most common complaints clients mention when they see a chiropractor and many people are unaware that headaches are something chiropractors can help with.

Headaches affect the majority of people with 90% of the population suffering with headaches of some degree during their lives. There are many types of headaches with varying degrees of severity, some are more of an annoyance and a drain of energy to more debilitating headaches which can have a major impact on a person’s life.

Chiropractors recognise that headaches are part of the body’s alert system that something isn’t right, this can be due to stress, diet, dehydration, posture, eye strain just to name a few.

Headaches can be the result of more sinister causes such as brain tumours or diabetes however these are rare.

Solutions

The team at Putney Chiropractic are experts in analysing the areas of the spine that are under strain and correcting spinal misalignments caused by these stressors. When the strain is taken off the spine and the spine is able to move and adapt to stress more appropriately it allows your nervous system to function much more efficiently. This can take the strain off of the nerves, blood vessels, ligaments and muscles of the neck often alleviating symptoms such as headaches and overall lethargy. Remember if your spine is battling to hold you in an upright position it is using much more energy throughout the day and we could all use some more energy throughout the day!

Prevention

Prolific social media and general mobile phone use is seeing a big rise in the number of people suffering from postural related symptoms. The constant forward head tilting when looking at mobile phones puts tremendous strain on the neck, the numbers are quite staggering:

  • At 15 degrees, the head weighs 27 pounds (12.3 kilograms)

  • At 30 degrees, it increases to 40 pounds (18.2 kilograms)

  • At 45 degrees, it weighs 49 pounds (22.3 kilograms)

  • At 60 degrees, it exerts a force of 60 pounds on the cervical spine. (27.3 kilograms)

  • At 90 pounds the force could not be measured.

When we look at these numbers it is unsurprising so many people report that they feel a constant tightness in their shoulders and neck. The average person spends 2-4 hours per day hunched over looking at their phone, this is 700-1400 hours per year, even more scary is it is estimated the average high school student spends an extra 5000 hours in this poor posture!

The strain this puts on our physiology day to day can absolutely cause headaches and overall lethargy.

Our take home tips

  • Raise your mobile phone to eye level as much possible (you may look a little strange but it will save your spine in the long run and give you more energy throughout the day!)

  • Stretch! Give your neck muscles a break

  • Don’t wait until you’re in pain before seeing your chiropractor prevention is always better than the cure

  • Get up and move as much as possible, your body is designed to move!

  • If you’re getting regular headaches think about possible lifestyle stressors which may be causing them, are you drinking enough water? Getting your essential vitamins and nutrients? Exercising?

  • Critique your set up at work especially if you are in an office environment or spend the day looking down (primary school teachers, chefs, cleaners I’m looking at you)

  • Relax, London can be stressful. Sometimes the most productive thing one can do is relax

  • Nag your kids at home with posture (teenagers love to be nagged by their parents)