Cluster Headache and Chiropractic
What is a Cluster Headache
A cluster headache is a series of comparatively short but awfully painful head pain that lasts for weeks or even months. It occurs at the same time each year. People usually confuse a cluster headache with symptoms of allergies because of its seasonal nature.
The cause of this type of a headache is not yet identified but the nerve in your face is involved, which generate severe pain around one of your eyes. Most people cannot endure a series of attacks. Sometimes, a cluster headache can be more difficult to bear than a migraine, but it usually does not last long.
A cluster headache is not a very common type of a headache. It only affects less than 1 person out of 1,000 people. Men usually are the ones who experience this type of a headache rather than women. You are most likely to get them starting the age of 30.
A cluster headache may fade away for months, and even years, but they can come back at any time without you knowing it.
Reasons You Have Pain
When a nerve pathway in the base of your brain began to activate, that is the time you get a cluster headache. The indication will take place from the hypothalamus, which is the deeper part of the brain, and where the biological clock that controls the sleep and wake cycle dwells.
The trigeminal nerve, the nerve that is affected is responsible for a feeling of pain and heat in your face. The pain is felt near the eye area and it goes through to your forehead, then to your cheek, down to your jaw and above your ear. Brain underlying condition, such as an aneurysm or tumor does not cause these head pains.
Warning Signs
Though the pain starts out of the blue, you may have a few indications that a headache is coming.
– Mild burning sensation
– Swelling eyes. Sometimes, it droops
– Smaller pupil
– Watery red eyes
– Runny nose
– Warm, reddish face
– Sweating a lot
Smokers or heavy drinkers are the main targets of cluster headaches. It is more common to those people. During the period of attacks, you will be sensitive to alcohol and nicotine. Just a small amount of alcoholic drink can set off a headache. But during those headache-free periods, drinking alcohol will not activate or will not cause a headache.
Treatment Option for Cluster Headaches
Can chiropractic help?
Yes, it can! There is the one who can look at the structure of your body. Things like, how the body functions and how it feels. That person is a chiropractic doctor. He or she can offer certain steps that may assist in the healing process.
When you are having a cluster headache, your body seem telling you that it is not functioning at its best. The benefit of chiropractic is that it facilities best function of the whole body by developing brain and body relation. The adjustment that chiropractic does accomplishes through restoration of joint movement and healthy nervous system function. In the situation of cluster headache, chiropractors look exclusively at the upper neck, which is the most misaligned joint when patients have headaches.
When the joint proper movement is reconditioned through the adjustment, you can relax and improve your nervous system’s function with ease. Also, the cervical muscle can lessen its tightness and inflexibility that is usually experienced when you have the headache. Each person may experience great relief though individual responds differently.
At Beyond Wellness Chiropractic Center, chiropractic adjustments surely improve the basic functioning of your nervous system so that patients can find relief from the cluster headache symptoms.
Dr. Kevin Lyons
