Headaches and Chiropractic

If you have a headache, you’re not alone. Nine out of ten Americans suffer from headaches. Some are occasional, some frequent, some are dull and throbbing, and some cause debilitating pain and nausea.

What do you do when you suffer from a pounding headache? Do you grit your teeth and carry on? Lie down? Pop a pill and hope the pain goes away? There is a better alternative.

Research shows that spinal manipulation – the primary form of care provided by doctors of chiropractic – may be an effective treatment option for tension headaches and headaches that originate in the neck.

A report released in 2001 by researchers at the Duke University Evidence-Based Practice Center in Durham, NC, found that spinal manipulation resulted in almost immediate improvement for those headaches that originate in the neck, and had significantly fewer side effects and longer-lasting relief of tension-type headache than a commonly prescribed medication.

Also, a 1995 study in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics found that spinal manipulative therapy is an effective treatment for tension headaches and that those who ceased chiropractic treatment after four weeks experienced a sustained therapeutic benefit in contrast with those patients who received a commonly prescribed medication.

Headache Triggers
Headaches have many causes, or “triggers.” These may include foods, environmental stimuli (noises, lights, stress, etc.) and/or behaviors (insomnia, excessive exercise, blood sugar changes, etc.). About 5 percent of all headaches are warning signals caused by physical problems.

Ninety-five percent of headaches are primary headaches, such as tension, migraine, or cluster headaches. These types of headaches are not caused by disease. The headache itself is the primary concern.

“The greatest majority of primary headaches are associated with muscle tension in the neck,” says Dr. George B. McClelland, a doctor of chiropractic from Christiansburg, VA. “Today, Americans engage in more sedentary activities than they used to, and more hours are spent in one fixed position or posture. This can increase joint irritation and muscle tension in the neck, upper back and scalp, causing your head to ache.”

What Can You Do?
The American Chiropractic Association suggests, and Dr. Brenda Rooney concurs with the following:

- If you spend a large amount of time in one fixed position, such as in front of a computer, on a sewing machine, typing or reading, take a break and stretch every 30 minutes to one hour. The stretches should take your head and neck through a comfortable range of motion.

- Low-impact exercise may help relieve the pain associated with primary headaches. However, if you are prone to dull, throbbing headaches, avoid heavy exercise. Engage in such activities as walking and low-impact aerobics.

- Avoid teeth clenching. The upper teeth should never touch the lowers, except when swallowing. This results in stress at the temporomandibular joints (TMJ) – the two joints that connect your jaw to your skull – leading to TMJ irritation and a form of tension headache.

- Drink at least eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day to help avoid dehydration, which can lead to headaches.

What Can a Doctor of Chiropractic Do?
Dr. McClelland says your doctor of chiropractic may do one or more of the following if you suffer from a primary headache:

- Perform spinal manipulation or chiropractic adjustments to improve spinal function and alleviate the stress on your system.

- Provide nutritional advice, recommending a change in diet and perhaps the addition of B complex vitamins.

- Offer advice on posture, ergonomics (work postures), exercises and relaxation techniques. This advice should help to relieve the recurring joint irritation and tension in the muscles of the neck and upper back.

- “Doctors of chiropractic undergo extensive training to help their patients in many ways – not just back pain,” says Dr. McClelland. “They know how tension in the spine relates to problems in other parts of the body, and they can take steps to relieve those problems.”

Bill Expands What New Jersey's Chiropractors Can Do

By Ben Leach, Staff Writer of www.pressofAtlanticCity.com Posted January 12, 2010.

Chiropractors in New Jersey are going beyond the back.

Thanks to a measure that passed in both the state Senate and Assembly on Monday, state-licensed chiropractors would be able to treat extremities, prescribe medical tests and give nutritional advice as well as sell nutritional supplements in their offices.

The bill brings New Jersey in line with many other states that have similar regulations.

For example, under New Jersey’s current standards, a chiropractor can treat problems in the extremities such as hands and feet only if they directly relate to problems in the spine, according to Dr. James P. Farrell, a chiropractic physician at Farrell Chiropractic and Rehabilitation in Cape May Court House.

“If someone came into my office with carpal tunnel syndrome, I would have to relate it to the spine or I couldn’t treat it,” Farrell said.

Farrell explained that patients such as athletes, who might need immediate treatment, would be in a difficult position if the injury they sustained wasn’t along the spine. “There’s only so much time in the day to be writing notes to the insurance companies,” Farrell said.

Farrell said today’s chiropractors are trained to treat beyond the spine, and that includes giving nutrition advice to their patients. “It brings us into the 21st century,” said Dr. Robert Olivieri, a chiropractic orthopedist at Olivieri Chiropractic and Rehabilitation Center in Rio Grande.

Olivieri said chiropractors are trained to consult patients about nutrition — for example, skeletal pain might not be the result of an injury; it could be related to a vitamin D deficiency, which can lead to bone problems such as rickets and osteomalacia.

Under the new legislation, chiropractors still would not be able to write prescriptions for medications, but they would be able to recommend them. “Your body’s not lacking Lipitor,” Olivieri said. “But it might be lacking in vitamin D.”

Some opponents of the legislation argued that since chiropractors could sell nutritional supplements in their offices, it could create a conflict of interest. “We prohibit physicians from selling prescription drugs because if they sell they have a profit motive,” said Assemblyman Sam Thompson, R-Monmouth. “The same would apply to chiropractors.”

Local chiropractors disagree with that argument.

“We sell pillows and other supplies in our practice, and no one has said anything against that,” Farrell said.

Another argument some legislators presented against the bill was one concerning a chiropractor’s ability to perform pre-employment screenings, since they could apply to conditions related to the brain or heart and not to injuries or the spine. Farrell said that chiropractors are more qualified to give the screenings than nurse practitioners who are currently allowed to give the same pre-employment screenings in the state.
While the bill expands the definition of a chiropractor’s duties in New Jersey, it also requires chiropractors to participate in continuing education programs. Chiropractors have to complete 30 additional credits of annual training, while those who want to give out nutritional advice must participate in 45 hours in a nutritional study program.

The Assembly passed the bill 64-4 with eight people declining to vote. The Senate voted 23-11. Gov. Jon S. Corzine has to sign the bill for it to become law.