Each year more than 35 million people report suffering from migraines costing American businesses a loss of more than 29 billion dollars in lost time and work productivity. Some of these individuals report suffering from migraines every day. Migraines are a neurological disorder that is brought on by several different mechanisms. Learning what triggers your migraines and how to relieve them are the first steps in taking control of your health.
The list of common migraine triggers:
- Daily Stress
- Hormonal Changes
- Dehydration
- Alcohol
- Caffeine
- Food Sensitivities
- Sleep irregularities
- Light sensitivity
- Artificial sweeteners
- Food preservatives
Some of the above triggers can be removed from your daily life but others like stress, hormonal changes, and sleep irregularities can not. This is where chiropractic comes in. Chiropractic is known to help the body respond to stress better, improve hormone regulation, and help reduce sleep irregularities. All three of those triggers are controlled directly by the autonomic nervous system which is what chiropractic specializes in improving.
How can chiropractic help reduce stress, regulate hormones, and minimizesleep irregularities?
The adjustments that are performed by chiropractors on the spine are shown to reduce muscle tension, which increases blood flow and helps the body relax. This increased blood flow delivers more nutrients and oxygen to the brain and other parts of the body.
This blood flow brings critical nutrients and helps remove toxins that are staying stagnant that could be causing inflammation. Inflammation causes irregularities in hormones and can actually cause more stress on the body.
Even more interesting is that chiropractic adjustments help reset and balance the autonomic nervous system. In order for us to get proper rest and recovery, we must have a balance between the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. The sympathetic nervous system is the “fight or flight” part of the autonomic nervous system and the parasympathetic is the “rest and digest” part of the autonomic nervous system. The autonomic nervous system controls the regulation of hormones that control sleep and the menstrual cycle. More than 50% of women that suffer from migraines report increased migraine activity around their menstrual cycle. With the regulation of the autonomic nervous system through chiropractic, people report better sleep, easier and more regular menstrual cycles, and reduced daily stress.
Chiropractic is one of the most effective treatments for migraine sufferers. It is a safe and non-invasive way to effectively treat migraines. At Koru Chiropractic, we have gone above and beyond the normal chiropractic approach and utilize an advanced technique called NUCCA. This specialty is an upper cervical technique that utilizes advanced imaging so we can align the spine in an extremely specific way based on your unique misalignment. At Koru, we have had great success with treating migraines and our patients have been able to have an increased quality of life living with fewer and sometimes even complete cessation of their migraines. If you are interested in learning more about migraines and our unique Chiropractic approach check out our “Migraine” section of our website here.