The coronavirus pandemic continues to create headaches. Literally. Neurologists around the country report seeing more patients complaining about intense migraines over the course of the last six months. Stress usually gets blamed for headache issues, but other factors play a significant role.
Changing routines and the environment also represent key factors for increased migraine severity. Migraine sufferers tend to be wired with brains that like things to be stable and regular. But with the pandemic, things have been anything but regular. Sleep schedules, work environments, stress levels, exercise routines, and school
represent just a few of the major deviations from normal.
Increased screen time during confinement also serves as a major migraine trigger. Being on a phone or laptop all day causes increased muscle tension in the neck and shoulders resulting in tension headaches that trigger migraines. Working from home increases many risk factors that trigger migraine headaches. So many variables come into consideration for migraine sufferers attempting to avoid an attack or reduce the severity or longevity of pain.
Migraines comprise the third most prevalent illness in the world, affecting 12% of the US population. Nearly 40 million Americans and a billion people worldwide suffer from migraines. That equates to one in seven people living with regular migraines. Migraines rank as the second most-debilitating disease on the planet, second only to back pain. Greater than 20% of chronic migraine sufferers classify as disabled and the likelihood of disability increases with the number of associated conditions.
Research published in 2015 determined that proper spinal health care produced better migraine relief than people relying only migraine medications. Medical doctors usually prescribe drugs for migraine sufferers without awareness or exploration of the published research revealing other safer and effective solutions. A false assumption occurs when people begin to associate relief with pharmaceutical drugs. The 2015 study showed that patients who received upper cervical, manual adjustive care reduced their drug consumption by 80%, decreased their days of migraines per month by 97%, and improved pain and functional disability associated with migraines by 100%.
Migraine sufferers represent some of the toughest people on the planet because they have learned to deal with an excruciating form of pain. Small improvements deliver big payoffs for those who have suffered for many years. Chiropractic care provides a unique natural strategy for helping migraine sufferers address the cause of their problem without dangerous side effects from medications or surgery. Stress serves as a major contributor to the exacerbation of migraine headaches. Chiropractic care helps migraine sufferers better cope with the stress of the
pandemic through regular, gentle adjustments that engage the nervous system to better adapt to the stressors that trigger headaches. People seeking relief from migraines know that chiropractic works.
Complementary Therapies in Medicine January 2015
“Clinical effectiveness of osteopathic treatment in chronic migraine: 3-Armed randomize controlled trial.”
Francesco Cerritelli, Liana Ginevri, Gabriella Messi, Emanuele Caprari, Marcello Di Vincenzo, Cinzia Renzetti, Vincenzo Cozzolino, Gina Barlafante, Nicoletta Foschi, Leandro Provinciali
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