(972) 562-0674
1502 W. University Drive #107 | Mckinney, Texas 75069
Migraines affect approximately 12% of Americans, which equates to about 38 million people. That’s a lot of people looking for fast ways to get relief. Unfortunately, there are not many options for migraine relief, and most only provide symptomatic care. In other words, rather than preventing migraines, they simply cover over the symptoms when one occurs.
One of the big theories about migraines is that people who suffer from them deal with overstimulated nerves, particularly in the neck, head, and face. As a result, a team or researchers developed a headband-like device that provides a mild electrical current to the trigeminal nerve. When applied during a migraine, the overstimulated nerves may relax, leading to some relief. In tests, this has helped some. However, it still doesn’t address the underlying problem that causes migraines. Once again, it just covers over the symptoms during an attack.
One factor that can affect the nerves of the neck, head, and face is a misalignment of the C1 and C2 vertebrae. Located at the base of the skull, these bones are in an area rich in nerves, soft tissue, and blood vessels. Thus, even a slight misalignment of these bones can cause conditions that may lead to migraines.
At Crowder Specific Chiropractic, we specialize in the care of these two vertebrae. Many patients have discovered that once proper alignment is achieved and maintained, migraines come to an end, or are at least greatly reduced in frequency and severity. Some get relief in as little as one or two adjustments.
If you suffer from migraines, we encourage you to have your upper cervical spine examined for misalignments. This could be your first step to finding migraine relief that actually keeps future migraines from occurring rather than just covering up symptoms as they occur.
References:
Migraine research Foundation. Migraine Fact Sheet. http://www.migraineresearchfoundation.org/fact-sheet.html (accessed 4 September 2015).
Russo A, Tessitore A, Conte F, Marcuccio L, Giordano A, Tedeschi G. Transcutaneous supraorbital neurostimulation in "de novo" patients with migraine without aura: the first Italian experience. J Headache Pain. 2015 Dec; 16:551.
Elster EL. Upper cervical chiropractic care for a patient with chronic migraine headaches with an appendix summarizing an additional 100 headache cases. J Vert Sublux Res 2003;AUG(3):1-10
To schedule a complimentary consultation with Dr. Crowder, call our McKinney office at 972-449-5845. You can also click the button below.
If you are outside of the local area, you can find an Upper Cervical Doctor near you at www.uppercervicalawareness.com.
One may wonder what constitutes chronic migraines. A person must:
It is understandable then that people suffering from chronic migraines miss out on a number of events in their life. Things such as school, work, and time spent with family and friends are all affected. Over 4 million people are diagnosed with chronic migraines, and most of these are women. This is a huge number of people that are unable to enjoy life on a daily basis as most others do. Is there anything that can help?
Primary care doctors or neurologists will probably recommend that the person keeps a headache journal. It is important to record everything that happens before and during a migraine attack. This will help to develop a pattern that may reveal particular triggers that are causing headaches. Weather conditions, temperature, food and beverages consumed, and stress levels should all be noted.
Medication may also be suggested to help ease the pain of migraines. However, these often come with unwanted side effects and can lead to more headaches in the future if taken too frequently. Many wonder if there is a natural alternative for coping with migraine pain that really works.
A link between a misalignment in the upper neck and migraine headaches has clearly been established. Therefore, addressing this problem and correcting it can be one way of alleviating headaches. The C1 and C2 vertebrae are responsible for protecting the brainstem and preserving communication to and from the brain and body. If a misalignment happens in either of these bones, the opposite is true. Communication, blow flow, and cerebrospinal fluid flow become irregular. This is the perfect environment for migraines to occur. Once the misalignment is corrected through gentle means, the body can begin to heal and function at its optimum once again. Often this is all that a person needs to combat migraine pain.
To schedule a complimentary consultation with Dr. Crowder, call our McKinney office at 972-449-5845. You can also click the button below.
If you are outside of the local area, you can find an Upper Cervical Doctor near you at www.uppercervicalawareness.com.
In the United States, approximately 18% of adult females and 6% of adult males are currently dealing with migraines. When you add in the children who suffer from migraines, it totals about 38 million people. Common migraine triggers include neck pain, weather conditions, strong smells, stress, and even certain foods and beverages.
While migraines are being researched heavily due to their prevalence, there is still little understood about this neurological condition. In the end, doctors often go back to the prescription pad to try and find solutions for patients who are in pain, missing work, and growing depressed over the debilitating condition.
This has led to the expansion of the market for headache medications. As a result, pharmaceutical companies are racing to produce products that cover over the symptoms better than previous drugs. The problem is that these new medications still only address the symptoms and not the underlying problem. There are also numerous side effects to these drugs.
For example, one company has chemically engineered a compound that has been abbreviated to CGRP. The idea behind this compound is that it can bond artificially with places that modulate pain in the body and control other headache factors. Unfortunately, the first version of the mediation failed its clinical trials because it resulted in liver toxicity, so the pharmaceutical company went back to the drawing board to find a safer version.
Many are looking for natural migraine solutions, and if you are included in that number, I want to encourage you to give upper cervical chiropractic care a try. The top bones of the spine, the C1 and C2, play a major role in the nervous and vascular systems of the body. They help to protect the brainstem and to facilitate blood flow to the brain. When these bones are misaligned, migraines are just one of the may possible outcomes.
Case studies have revealed that headaches can be improved or even relieved in as little as one or two adjustments. Before trying another medication, why not see if upper cervical chiropractic can provide the help that you need in a natural way.
References:
Reeves A. New Migraine Drugs Could Ease Investors' Headaches. http://news.investors.com/technology/061115-756710-teva-amgen-lilly-alder-cgrp-antibodies-target-migraine.htm (accessed 12 June 2015).
Elster EL. Upper cervical chiropractic care for a patient with chronic migraine headaches with an appendix summarizing an additional 100 headache cases. J Vert Sublux Res 2003;AUG(3):1-10
To schedule a complimentary consultation with Dr. Crowder, call our McKinney office at 972-449-5845. You can also click the button below.
If you are outside of the local area, you can find an Upper Cervical Doctor near you at www.uppercervicalawareness.com.
Migraine pain is impossible to ignore. A migraine episode is not just an average headache. Most sufferers experience many other unpleasant symptoms, including nausea or vomiting and extreme sensitivity to sounds, smell, and light.
There are many conjectures floating around about the source of migraines, and many have been able to identify certain things that will likely trigger an episode. Any type of head injury, including those sustained in a car accident, sporting injury, or even a slip on a sidewalk, can trigger a new condition or worsen an existing one. Head injuries can also bring on other new symptoms along with migraines, such as dizziness, changes in memory, and sleep difficulties.
An often overlooked factor when head pain occur after an injury is that the spine may have been injured as well. The uppermost vertebra in the spine is the most freely movable and can easily misalign with any type of head or neck injury. When this happens, it can put abnormal stress and tension on the brainstem, which can affect blood and cerebrospinal fluid flow and nervous system function. The inability of these functions to happen properly can lead to the development of head pain.
The goal of upper cervical chiropractic is to restore normal alignment to the atlas, the vertebra that sits just beneath the skull at the top of the neck. By doing so, the body's normal ability to function is allowed to return and, given time to heal, head pain can be reduced or eliminated. An added benefit is that since we are addressing your migraines at the root of their cause, the results we obtain aren't temporary. They're made to last.
References:
http://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/neurologic-disorders/headache/migraine
To schedule a complimentary consultation with Dr. Crowder, call our McKinney office at 972-449-5845. You can also click the button below.
If you are outside of the local area, you can find an Upper Cervical Doctor near you at www.uppercervicalawareness.com.
Migraines seem to be more and more common in today’s hectic world. In fact, in the United States alone, 38 million people experience head pain including men, women, and children! This means that 12% of the population have migraines. This is more than those with diabetes and asthma together! Some common symptoms of migraine are:
Doctors are relieving migraines on a daily basis, yet little is understood about how and why they occur. They are often misdiagnosed. Some common triggers are:
Because so little is known about migraines, there are few things that help eliminate symptoms in all people. A new drug being researched is said to help prevent migraines. This is done by targeting the specific part of the body that is responsible for regulating blood vessels and sending pain signals to the brain. The way that this drug works is that it stops pain messages that are being carried to the brain. This may sound like great news for migraine sufferers. However, remember that any type of medication comes with unwanted side effects. Also, the underlying cause of head pain is not being addressed. This means that migraines will more-than-likely return.
As an upper cervical chiropractor, I have seen much success in helping my migraine patients cope with their headaches. Research has revealed that changes in the function of the brainstem may be responsible for migraine headaches in some people. Therefore, I employ a technique that helps me to examine my patients for misalignments in the upper neck vertebrae.
If a misalignment has occurred in the C1 or C2 vertebra, this may be putting undue pressure on the brainstem, hindering it from sending proper signals to and from the brain and body. Once gentle adjustments are made, and the spine comes back into proper alignment, patients often report a decrease in symptoms and some have seen their migraines completely go away.
To schedule a complimentary consultation with Dr. Crowder, call our McKinney office at 972-449-5845. You can also click the button below.
If you are outside of the local area, you can find an Upper Cervical Doctor near you at www.uppercervicalawareness.com.
A staggering 1 billion people worldwide suffer from migraines, making it the 3rd most prevalent illness in the world. If you’ve ever had a head pain, you’d know that it’s not just a really bad headache. A migraine episode comes with a host of other symptoms, including nausea or vomiting, dizziness, and extreme sensitivity to sound, light, and smell. Poor sleep can also be associated with migraines that are both more frequent and more severe. This can be due to several factors, including added stress, environmental changes, and various types of medications. Implementing these 5 tips might help you get a better (and much needed) night of sleep:
The chances are that if you’ve been dealing with head pain for any length of time, you have tried a multitude of treatment options. Perhaps some of them have even provided a measure of temporary relief. What we do here at Crowder Specific Chiropractic is help sufferers understand the root cause of their condition. Upper cervical chiropractic is concerned with the uppermost vertebra in the neck, the atlas. The atlas forms a protective ring around one of the most critical areas of our central nervous system, the brainstem. If the atlas misaligns, even by a small amount, it can place abnormal stress, pressure, and strain on the tissues of the brainstem. This can compromise the body’s ability to function normally, and can be the underlying cause of the symptoms.
Many patients find their way to our office in their search for natural care that doesn’t involve medications (and their side effects) and more invasive procedures. Upper cervical chiropractic is gentle, safe, and effective at relieving the root cause of many people’s head pain. Results with upper cervical care are often longer lasting since it goes beyond mere symptom management.
References:
https://migraineresearchfoundation.org/about-migraine/migraine-facts/
https://americanmigrainefoundation.org/living-with-migraines/life-with-headachemigraine/sleep-insomnia-and-migrainge/
To schedule a complimentary consultation with Dr. Crowder, call our McKinney office at 972-449-5845. You can also click the button below.
If you are outside of the local area, you can find an Upper Cervical Doctor near you at www.uppercervicalawareness.com.
If you are a regular migraine sufferer, you might be aware of the telltale signs that an attack is right around the corner. If your head pain come less frequently, then you may not realize that there are a series of events that may happen in the hours, or sometimes even days, leading up to a migraine episode. Learning to recognize these signs, and perhaps what might be triggering them, can be helpful in defending yourself against future attacks:
All of these potential symptoms make up what’s called the prodrome phase of a migraine. The prodrome phase can also be referred to as the preheadache or premonitory phase – a sign of what is to come. It is estimated that about 30 to 40% of sufferers experience the prodrome phase, but it is also believed that this estimate is on the low side.
There is still some level of mystery surrounding the exact mechanism by which migraines occur. In some research, migraines are considered a neurological headache and in others a vascular condition. Regardless of a migraine’s origins, getting relief is often the number one priority for sufferers. Most of the treatment options available are symptom-based, meaning that they are designed to relieve certain aspects of a migraine episode, such as the headache or nausea.
For people seeking out an approach that is natural, effective, and meant to last, upper cervical chiropractic care might be a great option. Upper cervical chiropractic care influences both the nervous system and the vascular system by finding areas of spinal misalignment that are impeding the body’s ability to function optimally.
More specifically we look at the atlas vertebra, the uppermost one in the neck, because of its ability to affect the brainstem – a critical part of our central nervous system. At Crowder Specific Chiropractic, we see many people’s reduce in frequency or severity, or even resolve completely when this stress on the nervous system is removed with a gentle and precise atlas adjustment. If you’re tired of dealing with head pain and feel like you’ve tried everything else, let us see if we can help you!
References:
http://www.achenet.org/resources/migraine_attack_the_four_phases/
To schedule a complimentary consultation with Dr. Crowder, call our McKinney office at 972-449-5845. You can also click the button below.
If you are outside of the local area, you can find an Upper Cervical Doctor near you at www.uppercervicalawareness.com.
If you’re an adult who has ever experienced the pain of a migraine, you know just how terrible it can be. As adults, we are able to communicate these issues, call out from work if necessary, and perhaps take some time to lie down in a dark, quiet room to try and sleep it off. But, what happens when migraines occur in kids? This actually happens more often than you might think. According to the Migraine Research Foundation, half of all sufferers have their first attack before their 12th birthday. Research has also shown that approximately 60% of kids who suffer from migraines will continue to have attacks past the age of 30.
When it comes to caring for children, many parents are actively seeking out natural alternatives. Traditional migraine treatments, for both adults and children, rely heavily upon medications. These medications are aimed at relieving the various symptoms of a migraine episode, including nausea, and the pain of the headache itself. These medications are great at providing temporary relief, but they don’t come without risk, and they, unfortunately, do nothing to address the root cause of the condition.
More and more parents are bringing their children into our practice for upper cervical chiropractic care because of our gentle and specific approach. We specialize in assessing and correcting misalignments of the topmost vertebra of the spine. It’s especially important to have children who suffer from migraines checked for this type of misalignment. When the atlas misaligns, it can compromise normal blood flow between the head and neck, and can interfere with normal brain-body communication, leading to headaches and migraines. Because of the shape and biomechanics of the atlas vertebra, it is particularly susceptible to misaligning. Because kids will be kids, falls on the playground and injuries on the sports field can be to blame.
If your child is suffering from migraines and you’re looking for a natural solution, then upper cervical chiropractic may be exactly what you’re looking for. Restoring normal atlas alignment and normal body function with a specific, gentle atlas correction can be the key to reducing or even eliminating migraines for good.
References:
To schedule a complimentary consultation with Dr. Crowder, call our McKinney office at 972-449-5845. You can also click the button below.
If you are outside of the local area, you can find an Upper Cervical Doctor near you at www.uppercervicalawareness.com.
If you suffer from migraines, you already have to deal with pain that can sometimes take you out of commission for days. Migraines are not just a really bad headache. They come along with a host of other neurologically-based symptoms such as disturbances in vision, nausea, and extreme sensitivity to light, sound, and smell. On top of managing these attacks, and living with the anxiety of when the next one might occur, research is now emerging that women who suffer from migraines are at an increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease than their non-migraine counterparts.
The numbers published in the report show that women with migraine headaches are 39% more likely to have a heart attack, 62% more likely to suffer a stroke, and 73% more likely to have other heart problems. On the surface, there doesn’t seem to be a connection between migraines and the heart. However, there is a connection, and it lies within the nervous system, which controls the function of the cardiovascular system. The nerves in our bodies control everything from the opening and closing of blood vessels, to the regulation of our heartbeat. When an issue arises in the central nervous system, it can affect the ability of the cardiovascular system to function normally.
Migraine headaches have remained somewhat of a mystery to the medical profession, but the more that is understood, the more a connection is revealed between migraines and the nervous system. Migraines are known as neurological headaches that can occur because of abnormalities with brainstem function. Upper cervical chiropractic specifically focuses on the vertebra that surrounds and protects the brainstem. This vertebra, the atlas, forms a protective ring around the brainstem. However, if some type of injury or trauma occurs, it can cause a misalignment that places abnormal stresses on the tissues surrounding the brainstem. This can be the underlying cause of many migraine cases.
Typical treatments for migraines can be great for addressing symptoms, like reducing the headache and quelling the nausea. Unfortunately, these treatments do nothing to correct the root cause of the condition. People have achieved long-term relief from their migraines with upper cervical chiropractic care—a simple, gentle, and specific adjustment. By restoring normal atlas alignment, the nervous system is allowed to return to its normal function, which may not only reduce migraines but also benefit the cardiovascular system as well.
References:
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/06/02/migraines-tied-to-increased-risk-of-heart-problems/?_r=0Elster EL. Upper cervical chiropractic care for a patient with chronic migraine headaches with an appendix summarizing an additional 100 headache cases. J Vert Sublux Res 2003;AUG(3):1-10.
To schedule a complimentary consultation with Dr. Crowder, call our McKinney office at 972-449-5845. You can also click the button below.
If you are outside of the local area, you can find an Upper Cervical Doctor near you at www.uppercervicalawareness.com.
Migraines are, unfortunately, an extremely prevalent condition, affecting approximately 38 million people across the U.S. If you don’t suffer from migraines, chances are you know someone who does. Migraines are not simply just a really bad headache; they are accompanied by a host of neurological symptoms that can sometimes take days to recover from. Healthcare options for migraine sufferers are fairly limited overall and mostly consist of a variety of medications that seek to combat the pain and nausea associated with an episode.
We have seen a trend where more and more people are seeking out natural treatments or remedies for their conditions, and migraine headaches are no exception. People who suffer from chronic migraines may feel tied to different pharmaceuticals they’ve been prescribed to manage the many symptoms, from the pain of the headache to nausea. Many have concerns over side effects, ramifications of long-term usage of these medications, or just prefer to try and manage their health with a more natural approach. Certain supplements and herbs have been looked at in the management of the condition, including:
While supplementation can be helpful in symptomatic treatment, it doesn’t address the root cause.
In many cases, migraine headaches have their roots in the nervous system. The central nervous system controls and coordinates the function of all the other systems in the body. In the instance of migraines, oftentimes the blood vessels, or vascular system, are involved as well. A very specific type of misalignment of the atlas vertebra, which sits at the very top of the neck at the base of the head, is found in most people who find their way to our office with migraines. When the atlas shifts, it creates an obstruction in the ability for the brainstem to function normally. This means that normal signals travelling over the nerves are compromised, and blood flow is affected, which can contribute to the many symptoms of a migraine attack.
At Crowder Specific Chiropractic, our priority is figuring out if a misalignment of the atlas is at the root of your migraines. If through our thorough analysis, it is determined that your atlas is not aligned properly, we work with you to gently restore normal alignment with specific upper cervical chiropractic adjustments. This will, in time, allow the body’s natural healing process to take place, which can lead to a reduction in the frequency and/or severity of your migraine headaches.
References:
https://migraineresearchfoundation.org/about-migraine/migraine-facts/
https://www.migrainetrust.org/living-with-migraine/treatments/supplements-and-herbs/
To schedule a complimentary consultation with Dr. Crowder, call our McKinney office at 972-449-5845. You can also click the button below.
If you are outside of the local area, you can find an Upper Cervical Doctor near you at www.uppercervicalawareness.com.
