Migraine Relief

Migraine Relief: Acute vs. Alternative Preventative Treatment Measures for Migraine Headaches

The Story Goes Kind of Like This:

A crushing migraine comes out of nowhere. It hits you like a steel rod in the head. Maybe you’re at work, and if you’re lucky you’re home. You can barely move or talk. Basically, you just want to lay down and die. You think to yourself, maybe google knows the answer this time.

You muster up enough courage and strength to grab your phone and stare into a screen, ouch. That light hurts your head so bad you want to throw up. You search: “Help migraine,” “Migraine relief,” Fast migraine relief,” “How to get rid of a Migraine now,” anything to get an answer!

You scour the internet, searching for answers. Boom you found it, this is the one, the answer you’ve been looking for! “The one thing you need to do now to stop Migraines!” Your read on, “Don’t drink coffee, stop eating chocolate, and avoid screens.” Seriously! That’s it! I’ll just crawl in under my covers and cry, thanks for nothing!

If this sounds familiar you are not alone. I repeat, you are NOT alone. Pick up or look up any recommendations for migraine relief and you’ll get just about the same old thing every time. These experts will tell you to stop eating chocolate, avoid triggers, stop eating gluten and dairy. “I’ve done all that boss, now what!? Plus, I kind of like chocolate.”

Let’s take a step back. Once you’re in it, I’ll tell you, you’re in it. What can you do? Ride it out and find a real answer when you can move again.

What do the Statistics Say?

While only 12% of people who get migraines use preventative measures, 98% use acute treatment measures.(1)

Of the over 39 million Americans that suffer from migraine headaches, 40 percent of them could seriously benefit from preventative therapies. (2)(3) That’s over 15 million people in this country alone that could get help before a migraine even starts! The question is are you one of them and what in the world can you do about it, stop eating chocolate!? Don’t tell me that again or I think I really will throw up.

What if there was a real answer for the some 15 million. What if I told you, you could be checked to see if a preventative treatment therapy can work for you or not? Well that’s what I’m telling you, you can.

How does this Potentially Preventative Migraine Happen?

There are nerves in your neck that go up to your head and if you have a specific condition called an Atlanto-axial-occipital subluxation there is pressure on those nerves and it could be the cause of your migraines!

Wait Atlanto-axial what, huh? Hey doc, I have a migraine remember. You’re making my head hurt. English, please. Let me break it down simply.

You have a bone that surrounds the bottom of your brain stem, well we all do, it’s called your atlas. Your brain stem controls everything in your body and all the nerves stem from there, no pun intended, they really do. If these nerves have pressure on them, nerve and blood flow to your head is affected which can and will lead to headaches, even migraines, if left untreated.

How do I find out if I have this problem?

All fun aside. Migraines are debilitating and they affect people’s lives in a major way. It’s scary as all heck to not know when they are going to happen and even worse to not know when they will end.

They stop us from working, going to the gym, playing with our kids, going out with friends and doing the things that we love to do. We can’t live our lives all out and I’m sick of people suffering when I know there is an answer for a lot of them. Have an expert evaluate your spinal structure, especially your upper cervical spine to see if you have an atlanto-axial-occipital subluxation.

Who is the expert?

Despite what you may read online, less than 1% of doctors in the world are true experts at upper cervical work (a type of care that evaluates the atlanto-axial-occipital for misalignment). There is a small group of around 250 doctors that have unique training in a system called NUCCA. NUCCA is a gentle and very specific chiropractic technique that requires no twisting, popping or cracking.

How is NUCCA different?

NUCCA chiropractors are trained at detailed analysis and correction of upper cervical spine problems. They know how to correct this devastating condition and assist people in the recovery process back to full function and healthy living. Maybe you’re thinking, there’s no way this is going to work I’ll just take a pain killer and go lay back down. Then don’t listen to me, listen to this patient:

P.S. If you have tried cortisone shots, migraine medication, surgeries, botox, etc. with no relief and are thinking I’ve tried everything this can’t work for me! Let me help you, you already ruled out all those treatments, and it didn’t help you.

Move on to the next, don’t give up! If you did all of that or most of it with no relief it is more likely you have this condition and you can get some serious help.

Sources:
(1) Diamond S, Bigal ME, Silberstein S, Loder E, Reed M, Lipton RB. Patterns of diagnosis and acute and preventive treatment for migraine in the United States: results from the American Migraine Prevalence and Prevention Study. Headache 2007;47:355-363.
(2) Lipton RB, Bigal ME, Diamond M, Freitag F, Reed ML, Stewart WF; American Migraine Prevalence and Prevention (AMPP) Advisory Group. Migraine prevalence, disease burden, and the need for preventative therapy. Neurology. 2007;68(5):343-349
(3) United States Census Bureau. US World and Population Clock. https://www.census.gov/popclock/. Sept 30 2019