There are many different types of headaches. Although not all headaches are the same, they all share at least one thing in common — they cause pain. But many headaches also cause other unwanted symptoms, including nausea and vomiting. A person’s medical history and the frequency and severity of the headache is important in distinguishing an uncomfortable but safe headache from a more serious one.
There are many types of headaches such as tension headaches, migraines, cluster, sinus headaches, trigeminal neuralgia, intracranial related, meningitis, and toxic headaches. The majority of headaches, however painful, are short-lived and not a cause of concern. Headaches of intracranial origin and/or meningitis require immediate emergency attention. It is important to ensure that your headache is not due to a serious illness before considering the use of any complementary therapy.
At the Semiahmoo Wellness Center most of the headaches seen by the Naturopathic Physicians are due to either structural misalignment of the cranium or neck as well as muscle tension, allergies, chemical toxicity, other digestive disturbances or EMF toxicity.
Tension headaches can be a result of hypoadrenia from stress. Low adrenal function from the effects of stress on the body can lead to low blood sugar headaches or can cause ligaments to be lax which can lead to instability in the neck leading to headaches. Providing support to the adrenal glands is paramount to resolution of these type of headaches as well as spinal and /or cranial manipulation.
If you suffer from migraine headaches your diet and digestion needs to assessed along with investigation into food sensitivities and allergies.
Certain supplements can also be beneficial to those affected by headaches. These include:
- feverfew, which may prevent or alleviate some types of headaches, including migraines, when taken over several weeks or months;
- riboflavin (a B vitamin) and a combined magnesium and calcium preparation, taken daily, may be effective for persistent migraines.
If you are looking to get off the pain medications and don’t want to suffer through the pain give us a call at the Semiahmoo Wellness Center.
