Oh, My Aching Head

Headaches and neck pain image.

It’s back again ~ that all too familiar throbbing pain in your head. You suffer from them regularly, but do you know what actually causes your chronic headaches?

The pain you feel when you have a headache is not located in your brain, even though it feels that way. The pain is actually sensed by nerve endings located in your head and neck. Many types of events, inside and outside of your body, serve as “triggers” that can bring on a headache. Knowing what most often triggers your headaches can help you avoid them.

The most common triggers are emotional (stress, anger, anxiety), food-related (eating processed foods such as perserved sandwhich meats, alcohol, nuts and dairy products), hormonal (birth control pills, menstruation, menopause), environmental (noise, air travel, changes in temperature or humidity), or physiological (illness, skipping a meal, overtiredness).

A study, conducted by Dr. Eisenberg at Harvard University, reported that chiropractors are the most common alternative health provider consulted for headache pain. Chiropractors are trained to locate and correct misalignments in the vertebrae in the upper spine and neck. These misalignments put pressure on adjacent nerves ~ pressure that can cause your headaches.

So, instead of reaching for the headaches pills the next time you feel a headache coming on, call our practice and have your spine checked instead!

Dr. Murphy Asks some important questions of interest to Round Rock residents - Chiropractor Round Rock Dr. Murphy Asks...

How long does it take to form a bone spur?
Many who begin chiropractic care think their problem happened "last week when you bent over funny." But pictures of the spine tell a different story. Chiropractors know it can take your body years to deposit the calcium necessary to form a bone spur. It's your body's response to stress due to gravity or joint malfunction. And chiropractic care can help.
Are aches and pains good or bad?
While aches or pains may be unpleasant, they're merely warning signs. As a Round Rock chiropractor, I see this all the time. The pain is not the problem! It just means a limitation has been reached and something needs to change. That's when we get to work correcting the underlying cause.