Do you take medication for migraine pain? You're not alone. Many patients are prescribed drugs to deal with frequent migraine headache. But did you know that your medications may actually be causing you more pain? In a recent study, it was discovered that medication overuse causes daily headaches in 1 out of every 50 patients.
The good news is that you can get migraine relief without the risk of additional pain or side effects from drugs. Chiropractic care could offer a more safe solution for managing migraine headaches. Studies have shown that chiropractic care, like what we provide to our Aloha and Beaverton patients, can safely treat migraines in patients of all ages, including pregnant women and children.
A controlled study in 2000 revealed the efficacy of chiropractic care for migraine. Researchers analyzed the treatment of 127 migraine patients between the ages of 10 and 70. All participants had a minimum of at least one migraine per month. Half of the participants were treated with chiropractic spinal manipulations. The other half of patients served as a control group. All of the patients kept headache diaries, noting their headache frequency, intensity, duration, disability, related symptoms, and medication usage.
The group treated by a chiropractor experienced significantly better outcomes than the control group. In fact, 22% of the chiropractic patients reported more than a 90% reduction in the frequency of their migraines after just two months of treatment. The findings of this study confirmed other research that suggested the efficacy of spinal adjustments for improving migraine pain.
More recently, a 2012 study showed that chiropractic care reduced the severity of migraine pain by an average of 68%.
If you suffer from migraine headaches, Oregon Medical Centers can help. Our chiropractors use spinal adjustments to safely and effectively reduce headache severity and frequency. We also use exercise therapy which has been shown to prevent migraines as effectively as medications. We're committed to helping our Aloha and Beaverton patients live a life free of pain.
References
Jahangiri JN, Vatankhah N, and Baradaran HR. Reduction of current migraine headache pain following neck massage and spinal manipulation. Journal of Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork 2012; 5(1): 5–13.
Tuchin P, Pollard H, Bonello R. A randomized controlled trial of chiropractic spinal manipulative therapy for migraine. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 2000; 23 (2): 91-95.
Varkey E, et al. Exercise as migraine prophylaxis: A randomized study using relaxation and topiramate as controls. Cephalalgia 2011; 31 (14):1428-1438.
Dr. Bhasin grew up in Southern California and did her undergraduate work in pre-med at California State University Northridge, as well as Humboldt State University in California. Dr. Bhasin attended the University of Western States in Portland Oregon where she earned her Doctor of Chiropractic Degree. Dr. Bhasin has passed her National boards and her State Boards. Dr. Bhasin loves helping people and finds great joy helping injured people get out of pain and get their life back again. She has helped thousands of patients.
