Do you suffer from Headaches in Gilbert AZ?

Headaches are one of the most common conditions we help in our Gilbert AZ Chiropractic office. Our success rate with treating headaches is about 90%, that is 9 out of 10 people we treat for headaches will have their headaches completely resolved or improved with treatment in our office. Dr. Brown utilizes a unique combination of Chiropractic, Acupuncture and Physical Medicine to treat headaches. This page will discuss five of the major types of headaches and how they respond to treatment in our office.

Cervicogenic in Gilbert AZ

“Cervico” means “neck”, “genic” means “coming from”, therefore a cervicogenic headache is a headache being caused by the joints and muscles of the neck and upper back. It is the most common type of headache, accounting for about 90% of all headaches. Unfortunately, it is also completely ignored by most of the medical profession, despite a growing body of research. The joints and muscles of the neck become inflamed and irritated and cause pain in the head, even if there is no pain in the neck. A combination of Chiropractic, Acupuncture and Physical Medicine will relieve this type of headache 90% of the time, and proper exercise and strengthening of the neck joints and muscles can prevent them from recurring. Cervicogenic headaches are sometimes called “whiplash headaches” because they commonly result from whiplash injuries sustained in car accidents.

Tension / Stress

With this type of headache, tension or stress causes muscle spasm and joint dysfunction in the neck and associated facial and head muscles, which in turn causes a headache. Therefore, a tension/stress headache is actually a cervicogenic headache, and responds to conservative treatment with Chiropractic and Acupuncture in our office 90% of the time.

Migraine

Many people with migraine headaches assume that migraines cannot be helped with conservative care, and they assume that they must rely on medications to deal with their headaches. However, Dr. Brown’s success rate with migraine headaches is 90%, just like with cervicogenic headaches. This is because most migraine headaches have a cervicogenic component and they respond to treatment in our office just like a cervicogenic headache, 90% of the time.

Sinus Pressure

Many people with sinus and allergy problems assume that a headache with pain in their sinus area, around their forehead and eyes, is caused by pressure from congested sinuses. However, so-called “sinus” headaches respond to care in our office about 90% of the time. This is because sinus headaches, just like migraines, usually have a cervicogenic component which can be treated with conservative care in our office. Also, sinus congestion can be effectively treated with a combination of Chiropractic manipulation, Acupuncture, herbal supplements and sinus rinse procedures. In the end, our success rate with sinus headaches is about 90%, just like with the other headaches mentioned above.

Cluster headaches

Cluster headaches are tough, they have been called “suicide headaches” because the pain is so intense that people have been known to take their own lives just to stop the pain. A cluster headache is very difficult, if not impossible, to completely resolve with any type of care, conservative or otherwise. However, Dr. Brown’s experience has been that many severe headaches diagnosed as cluster headaches do have a cervicogenic component, just like migraines. Therefore, anyone with a diagnosis of cluster headache should consider trying a course of conservative care to correct problems in the cervical spine which could be contributing to their headache. Dr. Brown usually recommends a course of six (6) treatments with Chiropractic, Acupuncture and Physical Medicine to see if the headache responds to treatment. If a cluster headache is going to respond to care, it will respond within 1-6 treatments in our office.