Today marks the start of migraine awareness week, that runs from September 3rd to 9th. And this is really important for us here at Reflex Spinal Health as we see a lot of people suffering from all types of headaches, including migraines.
Headaches are one of the most common medical complaints; most people experience them at some point in their life. They can affect anyone regardless of age, race, and gender.
The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that almost half of all adults worldwide will experience a headache in any given year, thus the importance of migraine awareness week.
What is the difference between a migraine and other headaches?
A migraine is usually a moderate or severe headache felt as a throbbing pain on one side of the head. Many people commonly experience symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and increased sensitivity to light or sound.
Migraine is a common health condition, affecting around one in every five women and around one in every 15 men. They usually begin in early adulthood. 
There are several types of migraine, including:
- migraine with aura – where there are specific warning signs just before the migraine begins, such as seeing flashing lights
- migraine without aura – the most common type, where the migraine occurs without the specific warning signs
- migraines with aura without headache, also known as silent migraine – where an aura or other migraine symptoms are experienced, but a headache doesn’t develop
Some people have migraines frequently, up to several times a week. Other people only have a migraine occasionally. It’s possible for years to pass between migraine attacks.
How Osteopathy and Chiropractic can help Migraine?
The majority of headaches are linked to restriction in the normal function of the neck and upper back. They are called cervicogenic headaches.
This can be caused by many reasons such as trauma (car accidents, bad falls, etc.) and activities of daily life but most commonly by poor posture.
With our sedentary lifestyle almost all of us have some form of restriction in the joints in our neck and upper back. As a result our muscles starts to either over or underwork and one of the results of such imbalance are headaches and even sometimes migraine.
The evolution of sedentary posture
Migraines are generally more due to a combination of factors and the function of the spine is definitely one of them.
Osteopaths and Chiropractors are the experts at assessing, identifying and correcting the restriction of movement in the spine. And by doing so we aim at restoring the body’s natural ability to self heal.
If you want to know more during migraine awareness week, you can book for a FREE 15 min SPINAL CHECK with one of our fantastic Chiropractors or Osteopaths in Reading and we will tell you if there is anything we can help with.
Call Reflex Spinal Health at 0118 946 2100 today!
A bit of Research for Migraine Awareness Week
- Is osteopathic manipulative treatment effective in migraine? Cerritelli, Francesco et al. International Journal of Osteopathic Medicine , Volume 16 , Issue 1 , e1 – e2
- Evidence-Based Guidelines for the Chiropractic Treatment of Adults With Headache Bryans, Roland et al. Journal of Manipulative & Physiological Therapeutics , Volume 34 , Issue 5 , 274 – 289
- Effectiveness of manual therapy for chronic tension-type headache: A pragmatic, randomised, clinical trial. René F Castien, Daniëlle AWM van der Windt, , Anneke Grooten, JoostDekker. Cephalalgia Vol 31, Issue 2, pp. 133 – 143
