Chiropractic, the Nervous System, and Chronic Headaches

Headaches can be a large burden on our day-to-day life. It can make it difficult to focus on our social life, school, career, etc. – essentially anything other than our headache. While there are over the counter medications that we can take to help dull the pain and provide us some form of relief, that may not always be our best form of care.

As a matter of fact, approaching our illnesses from a symptom-based approach means we never truly correct what is causing those symptoms to begin with. If we approach our symptoms intending to find what is causing them and seek ways to correct them, we can remove the issue at the source and feel better as a whole without having to worry about relieving each symptom individually. The best way to improve our overall health is by ensuring optimal function.

Chronic headaches are often caused by the trigeminal system being consistently oversensitized. In recent studies, links between the vagus nerve and trigeminal pain signaling have been emphasized. The vagus nerve and the trigeminal nerve are impacted by chiropractic care, especially in the upper neck and cranium. No wonder chiropractic gets such great results! This brings about the need for neurologically-based chiropractic care to restore the nervous system to optimal function and, as a result, allowing the nervous system and trigeminal system to function better overall!

Cornelison, L. E., Hawkins, J. L., Woodman, S. E., & Durham, P. L. (2020). Noninvasive vagus nerve stimulation and morphine transiently inhibit trigeminal pain signaling in a chronic headache model. PAIN Reports, 5(6). doi:10.1097/pr9.0000000000000881