What is a Migraine?
Unlike a regular headache, a migraine is typically experienced as an intense throbbing in one side of the head. This sensation is often accompanied by a range of secondary symptoms, such as light and sound sensitivity, nausea, blurred vision, vomiting, and fatigue. Migraine episodes can last anywhere from a few hours to days at a time. Some people may also experience visual disturbances known as aura.
Migraines can be triggered by a number of different hormonal or environmental cues, with every individual experiencing different triggers. While it’s common for sleep changes or hormonal fluctuations to trigger migraines, another often overlooked trigger is vertebral misalignment in the upper cervical spine.
5 Tips to Manage Migraines
Although the exact cause of migraines is often difficult to identify, there are proactive measures you can take to prevent their onset. To reduce the likelihood of experiencing migraines, consider implementing the following tips into your daily routine.
1. Relaxation
Stress can act as a potent trigger for migraines, so incorporating anti-stress techniques into your everyday routine could decrease migraine frequency. Consider using mindfulness techniques, exercise, hobbies, or yoga and meditation to decrease everyday stress.
2. Act Quickly
If you’re a regular migraine sufferer, you may begin to notice certain cues that indicate a migraine episode is coming on. If you notice one of these cues, you may want to prepare yourself by drinking additional fluids and retreating to a dark, quiet room. By taking these steps early on, you may be able to mitigate the severity and duration of your migraine.
3. Keep a Migraine Journal
Migraine sufferers often have specific triggers that can cause the onset of a migraine episode. If you’re struggling to understand what your triggers might be, keeping a migraine journal can help you to pinpoint whether specific smells, foods, or hormone levels could be causing migraine episodes.
4. Healthy Lifestyle
Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is an effective, albeit obvious, way to manage the severity and frequency of your migraines. Getting enough sleep, staying hydrated, and engaging in regular exercise can help keep your body and mind in balance, reducing the likelihood of triggering an episode. A balanced and healthy lifestyle is essential to keeping migraines at bay, so make sure to prioritize self-care and take steps to support your overall well-being. By adopting healthy habits, you can not only manage your migraines more effectively but also improve your overall quality of life.
5. Seek Chiropractic Treatment
If you suffer from persistent migraines that do not respond to pain medication, there are alternative treatment options available. Upper cervical spinal misalignments have been known to cause nerve compression around the neck and head, which can act as a trigger for migraines. Correcting the misalignment can alleviate nerve compression, leading to a reduction in the frequency and severity of migraines.
How We Treat Migraines
Upper cervical chiropractic care is an effective method for treating migraines and can provide long-term, lasting results. At Upper Spine Knoxville, Dr. Bejian Shamloo specializes in this type of chiropractic care and can address migraines at their root cause, rather than simply managing secondary symptoms.
Before your first chiropractic session, Dr. Shamloo will need to perform a series of diagnostic tests to pinpoint the location of any misalignments in the upper cervical spine. Using advanced imaging tools, such as infrared thermography and CBCT scanning, Dr. Shamloo can create a comprehensive image of your upper cervical spine. This technology enables Dr. Shamloo to perform more precise corrections during treatment.
Once Dr. Shamloo has identified any misalignments, he will use gentle upper cervical chiropractic correction techniques to realign the vertebrae and release any compressed nerves. These adjustment techniques are non-invasive and pain-free, allowing patients to experience migraine relief without the need for medication or surgery.
If migraines are interrupting your everyday life, Dr. Shamloo is here to help. Dr. Shamloo provides patients with upper cervical chiropractic treatments in Knoxville, Alcoa, Maryville, Farragut, Clinton, Oak Ridge, Sevierville, Lenoir City, Karns, Hardin Valley, Powell, Halls, and Fountain City in Tennessee, as well as the surrounding areas.