LifeCare Chiropractic

The Best Chiropractic Care in Mesa, Arizona

headache

Should I See a Mesa Chiropractor for My Chronic Migraine Headaches?

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Why am I even asking this (it was rhetorical, by the way)?  The answer is unquestionably yes.

It never ceases to amaze me how many new patients come into my office that have been having headaches for years and have never been to a chiropractor in Mesa.  Many of these patients begin to feel better in as little as a week.  The caveat here is that you need to find a Mesa chiropractor who addresses the soft tissue (muscle, ligaments, tendons, fascia) aspect of your problem and not just adjusting.  Many times the soft tissue aspect has been present for so long that just adjusting, just exercising, just ultrasounding, just interferentialling (is that a word??), just strengthening or just adjusting is not going to be enough.

This particular study just supports this link, finding close associations between tenderness in the trapezius muscles and chronic tension headaches as well as migraine headaches that were present only on one side of the head.

Children, Gluten, Sleep Apnea and Headaches, Oh My!

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gluten sensitivity in children
duckman76 /Dollar Photo Club

Here’s the reality of human physiology; we will NEVER understand how complicated it is.   Gluten sensitivity’s effect on the brain falls under this category.

There’s no doubt that many of us has a grasp on small amounts of how the body works, but the big picture is just too big for any one of us to understand fully.  It’s kind of like–I can drive around here in Phoenix quite well and know where I’m at or at least how to get to where I need to go.  But drop my in Dubai without a map or GPS and I’m pretty much screwed (especially since my Arabic is a little rusty…).

That’s a pretty good analogy to the human body and its complexity.  The most that any of us can hope for is a glimpse of insight into how it works and how we, as physicians, can help patients heal and live full lives.

This is one of the reasons why my passion has always been normal physiology and how the lifestyles we are SUPPOSED to be living impact that.  I figure it’s easier to match how we are designed to live then to figure out the details of that process.  Sort of like recommending more vegetables in your diet (because it’s the right thing to do) instead of understanding how glucosinolates in broccoli assist detoxification of environmental contaminants.

Just to complicate things even more, every system in the human body communicates and interacts with every other system.  The connections between the gut and the brain are particularly strong.  This is why treatment for any “brain disorder” should always include a look at the gut.

While this relationship may seem a little strange at first glance, the reality is that the gut is considered the body’s “second brain” since its production of neurotransmitters is as heavy as the brain.  As an example, 2/3 of the body’s serotonin is produced in the gut NOT the brain.

To further complicate matters, your DNA codes for about 25,000 different genes that make all kinds of different proteins to make sure your body is working the way it is supposed to.  Just in case that sounds a little overwhelming, the bacteria in your gut, collectively, have about 3 MILLION genes, all equally capable of making proteins that effect your health and risk of disease.

With this as a background, we can now look at just how absolutely jaw-dropping amazing this particular study is.  It brings together so many of these concepts that it is going to make your head spin.  In this small study, researchers looked at 19 children who had newly diagnosed celiac disease confirmed through an intestinal biopsy and followed them for 6 months while on a gluten free diet.

In these children with gluten sensitivity, there were some disturbing findings:

  • 37% of the children had headaches that affected daily activities.
  • 32% demonstrated symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea.
  • 48% of the children had abnormalities on EEG (a test using electrodes to check brain activity).

These findings clearly indicate that gluten (essentially a gastrointestinal condition) was having very definite negative effects on the brain.  And make no mistake–these are serious conditions to be found in children.

Luckily, the researchers then found some amazing things that were affected by 6 months of a gluten free diet:

  • The headaches disappeared in 72% of children.
  • EEG abnormalities disappeared in 78% of the children.
  • ALL children no longer had symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea.

As I mentioned, this is a small study.  However, it does link to and support other studies that have found an increase in migraine headache in those with gluten sensitivity, which gives it more weight.  While many have called the gluten free diet a “fad” I think these naysayers have managed to miss much of the medical literature linking gluten with a long list of health problems.

Even better, this is a DIETARY change with no real downside or side effects.  It is an approach that truly gets to the root of the problem rather than just glazing over the symptoms with dangerous medications with a long list of side effects.

Also, while this study only evaluated biopsy-confirmed celiac disease, which is at the far end of the spectrum, you can bet that lesser degrees of sensitivity will also link to neurological damage.  It will just be more subtle.

 

Migraines "Under Control" with Meds? Better Think Twice

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chronic migraines and Parkinsons
Chronic migraines linked to Parkinson’s disease

Last Update December 18, 2014

I don’t mean to beat a dead horse, but merely managing your chronic migraine headaches with meds is not the answer.

I am not saying that it’s not the short-term goal.  If you’ve ever spent time on some of the social networking sites  that relate to migraine headaches, you’ll realize just how devastating and life-shattering migraine headaches can be.  Jobs, relationships and lives in general can be restricted to living like a hermit in constant pain.

I understand that controlling the pain of the headaches is the first priority for a migraine sufferer.  But not everyone gets relief from medications.  This group spends their lives in a constant search for relief.  Medication after medication after medication.  When they’re lucky enough to find a medication to help, sometimes the side effects are just as debilitating.

The other group includes the ones who do find relief from medications.  But then they stop there, blissfully unaware that this is just the first step.

I have written over and over that the headaches are the symptom of a much bigger problem.  The headache is NOT a problem in the head.  Rather, it is the brain that is the most sensitive organ to the unbalanced state of health, with the critical dysfunction coming from blood vessel health (also referred to as “vascular health”).

Poor vascular health is at the root of migraines.  It is not always the only answer, but in most it is the principle problem.  If you can address vascular health and improve the health of your blood vessels, it is highly likely that you’ll find that your migraines improve as your blood vessels do.

Just in case you think I’m crazy for suggesting this merely because your neurologist has never suggested it, I would like to present as evidence this particular study.

In it, researchers looked at the relationship between the development of Parkinson’s disease in migraine sufferers in the AGES-Reykjavik study.  And the news isn’t good.

The Age, Gene/Environment Susceptibility-Reykjavik Study (AGES-Reykjavik) is a study that began in 2002 and is designed to look at the relationship between risk factors, including genetic susceptibility and gene/environment interaction, in relation to disease and disability in old age.

Between 2002 and 2006, 5,764 participants from this study were reexamined to look for symptoms of parkinsonism, Parkinson disease, a family history of Parkinsons and Restless Leg Syndrome.  Here’s what they found:

  • People who experienced midlife migraine (especially migraine with aura) were 360% more likely to report parkinsonian symptoms.
  • They were also 250% more likely to be diagnosed with Parkinsons.
  • Women who had migraines with aura were 226% more likely to have a parent or 178% more likely to have a sibling who were diagnosed with Parkinsons.
  • All of those who experienced headaches were more likely to experience Restless Leg Syndrome.

Parkinson’s disease has been strongly linked to prediabetes and diabetes.  The damage to the blood vessels that occurs in the diabetic process is pretty bad, leading to actual brain damage and dying brain cells.  I don’t know about you, but I’m hoping to keep all my brain cells intact as long as possible.

While no single study or research finding is enough to set anything in stone, the links between poor vascular health and migraines is quite extensive.  Extensive enough to warrant finding a new neurologist if this has never been discussed with you.

It is equally clear that vascular problems LEAD to migraine headaches, NOT the reverse.  This means that all the bang for your buck is in improving the health of your blood vessels to help your migraine headaches, not improving blood vessel health by controlling your migraines.  There is not a single medication used to control headaches that does anything to improve blood vessel health.

There are quite a few ways to improve the health of your blood vessels.  While it is beyond the scope of this article (you can read all about it in my Migraines and Epilepsy eBook by clicking here) here are a few short tips:

  1. Short-burst exercise is a must
  2. Cocao products like dark chocolate and cocoa, are very good for the blood vessels
  3. Berries
  4. Wild caught fish
  5. Not smoking (smoking DESTROYS the blood vessels)

While this is the short list, it should be enough to get you started.

2 Things Every Chronic Migraine Sufferer Should be Checked for

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This is one of those “I’m a chiropractor so this will be biased” articles. This bias is further accentuated by the fact that I’ve written a Migraines and Epilepsy book. This article describes that ONE thing that EVERY single headache sufferer needs to do, and yet rarely do.

I understand headaches very well. Migraines. Tension type headaches. Cervicogenic headaches. Sinus headaches. Unfortunately, many chronic headache sufferers actually experience many different types of headaches. Since most physicians have a single tool to use, they can only address a single type of headache at a time. This is why it seems like no treatment works—it’s rare that a single treatment that is going to help for more than one type of headache.

But there is a great place to start. It should absolutely begin in a chiropractor’s office. Why? (Other than my bias, of course…) Because the tension-type / cervicogenic headache is so extremely common and a chiropractor who also understands the soft tissues involved in these types of headaches is the ONLY type of provider who can address them.

In case you think I’m being a little biased, think for a second, what tools the typical primary care doctor, orthopedic doc or neurologist has to treat muscle problems. Note that I said “muscle problems” and not muscle spasms. True muscle spasms are pretty rare in these types of headaches. Injections do nothing to fix the problems and the medications may mask what’s really going on, but there just are not any medications that are designed to actually heal the soft tissue problems involved in these types of headaches.

One could argue that a well-qualified massage therapist can also address these soft tissue problems, and it is a strong argument. However, the other aspect that contributes to these headaches, improper movement of the joints at the very top of the neck, can only be addressed by a chiropractor.

So you can see that my bias does, in reality, have quite a bit of factual information to support it.

What does all of this have to do with this particular study? In this small study, researchers looked at 4 things in chronic migraine sufferers:

  1. Myofascial trigger points (MTrPs) in the SCM and upper trap muscles
  2. Forward head posture (FHP)
  3. Neck range of motion (ROM)
  4. Cervical facet joint stiffness

As I’ve mentioned, these aspects are all well within the range of conditions that soft-tissue oriented chriopractors can treat very effectively.

So what did they find when they compared this group of chronic migraine sufferers to a similar group that did not experience headaches?? They did not find any difference in the neck range of motion nor in forward head posture. They did, however, note:

  • There was increased stiffness of the cervical facet joints stiffness at Occiput-C1 (top of the spine and the skull joint) as well as at C1-C2.
  • There were more active and latent MTrPs in the right trapezius and SCM muscles.

So, with this study and others that have come before it, I would ask the perpetually unanswered question—why do we not see referrals from neurologists and PCPs to chiropractors at least for the evaluation of whether or not these 2 findings are present?

Amitriptyline Effective Prophylaxis for Headache in Childhood – (10-02-00)

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Amitriptyline Effective Prophylaxis for Headache in Childhood

There are two interesting things in this article. First, headaches in children are becoming prevalent enough to warrant research studies on eliminating them. We must ask ourselves why children are now more likely to suffer from headaches. The second issue is the long term introduction and use of pharmaceutical drugs in children. Our younger generation is being raised to believe that taken drugs for our “health” is okay. I’ve seen many children in my office with complaints of headache that resolve very quickly without the need for medications.

Headache 2000;40:539-549 Amitriptyline at 1 mg/kg per day reduces the frequency and severity of headaches in children, according to results of a prospective, open-label trial. Dr. Andrew D. Hershey and colleagues, from Children’s Hospital Medical Center, in Cincinnati, Ohio, recommend this prophylactic medication as one component of a comprehensive bio-behavioral approach to the treatment of childhood headaches. Dr. Hershey’s group concludes that amitriptyline is a well-tolerated medication that can be used on a relatively limited time basis as part of a comprehensive approach for treatment of migraine and tension headaches in children.

Headache Prophylaxis – (08-06-01)

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Headache Prophylaxis

This article was a compilation of Medline abstracts put together by Mescape Neurology with a link to 18 articles with abstracts. 2 of these dealt with natural substances. One with glucosamine (not a well known use for this substance) and one with fever few (well known and effective for headaches). A third article reviewed treatment for pediatric migraine and noted that there are no trials currently available supporting pharmacologic management of pediatric migraine. Mysteriously lacking was any manipulative therapies or lifestyle management. A headache patient in my office, so long as they’re ready to make any recommended changes, can almost always find relief. The bias against natural therapeutics is still way too prevalent.

Tender points are not sites of ongoing inflammation – (02-24-03)

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Tender points are not sites of ongoing inflammation -in vivo evidence in patients with chronic tension-type headache

Wow!! What an insightful article!! There has been much debate currently about the use of “itis” when dealing with many musculoskeletal conditions (epicondylitis, tendonitis…). Many researchers now believe that many problems in tendons and muscles (including trigger points) are actually an avascular condition with no acute inflammation; referred to as an “osis” (i.e. tendonosis). That would mean that the gadzillions of NSAID scripts written for musculoskeletal conditions are just short of worthless. These same researchers believe that cortisone injections are not beneficial because of the cortisone, but rather because the needle itself induces injury and creates blood flow into the site of injury. I just returned from a seminar this weekend that strongly addresses the avascular nature of scar tissue/adhesion formations in musculoskeletal injuries.

Synergy Abstract

Read entire article here

Enzyme Might Relieve Research Headache – (09-26-02)

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Enzyme Might Relieve Research Headache

Just thought I’d throw this tidbit in for entertainment’s sake…and for those of you that think that mainstream medicine has a handle on things and fully understands the whys and hows of interventions that it uses regularly. Here we see that we may finally understand how Tylenol works (huh?? Tylenol?? That stuff that 90% of the population takes like candy???) and it identifies a new variant of an enzyme we have all become familiar with since widely publicized release of Vioxx and Celebrex–cyclooxygenase (COX).

Science — Wickelgren 297 (5589): 1976a

Read entire article here