Headache. Causes and Osteopathic treatment.

Headache is one of the most common complaints I encounter in clinic..

If you suffer from headaches no one better than you know how debilitating they can be.

• Does your headache make you feel drained?
• Unable to concentrate?
• Irritable and feeling “toxic”?
• Does it deplete your energy?

These are some of the most common comments that patients with headache mention in my clinic.

Pharmacological medications can help people to manage the symptoms but are not always the solution to the cause of the headache. The side effect of long term use of NSAID, are well documented, this is one for you to read.

I often see people who have been on pain killers for long time, who are stuck in a vicious cycle, as soon as they stop the medication, their headache seems to come back with a revenge! Maybe you are one of them.

First of all, headaches are not all the same. Causes are usually multi factorial and treatment approach obviously greatly vary from individual to individual based on the underlying causative factors. I will try to simplify the most common here.

The musculoskeletal connection.

Tension especially in the upper part of your back, neck and shoulders can lead to episodes of headache, usually in the posterior part of the head and towards the back of the eyes.

Working long hours at a computer, or doing manual jobs are example of activities that can generate these kinds of tension.

Concussion, even if happened long time ago, can eventually lead to episodes of “unexplained” headaches. In these cases, the body may have learned to compensate for a traumatic event or injury. One may be unaware that there is something “off balance” in the body, but the effects of the concussion may still be present and relevant to current symptoms.

Underlying undetected dental infection, sinusitis, periodontal disease, dental occlusion issues and orthodontics are also very common causative factors.

Taking pain medication, in these cases, will relieve the pain but not the underlying cause, with the end results that later on people tend to have reoccurring episodes of headaches.

Osteopathic treatment can ease undue tension in the body which are contributing to headaches.

The visceral connection.

By viscera I intend your organs and the associated veins, nerves, arteries, lymph etc…

We tend to forget that the body has much more than just muscles and bones. Our viscera have extensive connective tissue relationships to the musculoskeletal system. And the nervous system is very good at maintaining as little stress as possible on the viscera, often at the expense of the muscles and joints. In simple words this means that, often, musculoskeletal pain originates from underlying metabolic/physiological imbalances. This is an example.

Mr. X consulted me because he had been suffering with headache for over 10 years. Unfortunately, the episodes of pain had become worst in intensity and frequency despite he increased the dosage of the medication he had been taking for the last 5 years. He had brain scan, neck X-Ray, blood tests and nothing was found to be abnormal.

He was in a very stressful job and did not look after his diet which mainly consisted of sandwich, ready meals and occasional salads. He often took Ranitidine to alleviate the symptoms of acid reflux and a steroid inhaler to relieve the episodes of asthma attach.

After the first treatment which mainly involved easing tension coming from his lungs, kidneys, liver and cranium, he reported large improvement of symptoms and better breathing. Subsequently, in adjunct to the osteopathic treatment we looked into dietary modification and lifestyle changes to help him better deal with stress.

Shortly after, his headaches completely went away, he started to make more conscious choices when it came to food and stared to implement in his daily routine relaxation and stress management techniques.

Toxic Overload.

Although the body is designed to eliminate toxins, it cannot always handle the overload present in today’s environment.

It is estimated that more than 84,000 chemicals are used in household products, cosmetics, food and food packaging alone and what’s most alarming is that most of these have never been tested for safety!

And it’s not just toxins from external sources that affect your health, toxins are produced inside the body too. These are waste products from normal metabolic activities, such as urea, carbon dioxide and lactic acid; and others are produced as a result of health problems such as intestinal dysbiosis, where levels of beneficial bacteria are low and harmful microorganisms proliferate.

Many of these pathogenic microorganisms produce unwanted toxins, which the body must work hard to eliminate on a daily basis.

Toxins overload can lead to a variety of health problems, among which, headaches.

Do you know that the brain has a specialized network of paravascular tunnels called the glymphatic system that, simply said, clears waste from the brain and supplies nutrients to nervous system tissue.

It is most active during sleep and may have implications in headache as well as in neurodegenerative diseases including Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease.

Neuroscientists have now produced a fascinating video that shows this nocturnal pulsing process in action.

As an Osteopath I have been trained on treatment approaches that are directed at affecting the circulation of the cerebrospinal fluid and its flow. Headaches can be reduced, also, by addressing the above-mentioned cranial system.

Hormones.

Often headaches are related to the menstrual cycle, the most common are premenstrual migraines. They can also happen during other times in your cycle, usually when your period starts or when you ovulate. They can also occur randomly during perimenopause.

Often the hormone issue is estrogen dominance (said in simple words: too much estrogen relative to progesterone), which can contribute to period-related headaches.

Menstrual headaches.

These happen during menstruation. At this time in your cycle, you have higher levels of inflammatory prostaglandins in your uterine lining. Women who get headache during menstruation have been shown to have even higher levels of these inflammatory chemical compounds.

When we’re in pain, we’re often told that there’s nothing more that can be done, or it’s normal or common to have pain etc…This is not always the case.

The good news is that all the above causative factors of headache can be modified and the body gently invited back to a healthier state, free of pain.

Osteopathic treatment takes a gentle and safe hands-on approach to alleviate pain and improve general health by restoring function, inherent motion and mobility, to various body structures.

It enables the body to utilize its own self-regulating and healing mechanism more effectively.

I am passionate about helping you to feel better and empower you with tools and knowledge that you can apply in your daily life so that you’re more in control of your health and wellbeing.

If you are like many of my patients, you have been struggling with headaches and you want to get to the bottom of your health problems and embrace a healthier lifestyle, do not hesitate to contact me.

I am interested in hearing your story and how I can help you and guide you through a process of changes and better health.

Feel free to tag your friends who might benefit from reading this article.

To your health,

Paola

Paola Pizzuto is a registered Osteopath in Edinburgh with a commitment and dedication to helping people achieve better health.