As with all symptoms,
conditions and diseases, the goal of natural medicine is to identify and treat
the underlying cause. Food allergies; hormonal cycles in women, which usually
trigger migraines; and referred pain may all be culprits. In many instances,
chronic headaches involve multiple factors. For this reason, a natural medicine
doctor will do comprehensive diagnostic testing in order to address all the factors
that may be causing the pain.
Headaches sometimes occur after eating certain foods. A food allergy is confirmed
by testing for allergies and, if positive, a hypoallergenic diet is recommended.
If the headache occurs before a woman menstruates (PMS), a hormonally induced
migraine may be involved. Hormone tests are done to confirm the diagnosis, and
typically an estrogen-lowering diet plus supplements such as flax seed oil and
cod liver oil would be recommended.
Headaches may also occur in conjunction with neck pain, which may involve
referral pain patterns from the head and the neck and could be due to poor head
posture or Barre-Lieou syndrome, which involves an instability of the neck vertebrae,
typically caused by loose ligaments. In order to confirm this scenario, positive
jump signs are elicited by putting pressure on specific spots in the head and
neck area. If a positive jump sign occurs, Chiropractic and natural supplements
are the treatment of choice. Chiropractic stimulates the body to repair painful
areas by balancing your nervous system. Since the body is controlled by the nervous
system, Chiropractic stimulates healing. |