In fact, just to illustrate the impact migraines have, the World Health Organization (WHO) has categorized the condition of migraines as the same level of disability as dementia, quadriplegia and acute psychosis. Furthermore WHO classified chronic migraine as more disabling than blindness, paraplegia angina or rheumatoid arthritis.
As disabling as migraines are, it would behoove the migraine sufferer to seek treatment that can offer successful results without the use of medications. It has been shown that up to 73 per cent of chronic migraine patients overuse headache medications, which may result in further complications. These drugs may seem harmless, but overuse is linked to gastrointestinal problems, heartburn, ulcers, and a host of other side effects.
Chiropractic has long been noted to successfully treat migraines, and studies have shown its success to be equal to or sometimes greater than what medications can provide.
A Study Finds Chiropractic As Beneficial as Medications
A recent Norwegian systematic review of manual therapies for migraine prevention (4 Feb 2011) concluded that chiropractic spinal manipulation and some other conservative interventions appear to be equal to medications (propranolol & topiramate) in their ability to prevent migraines.
A Study Finds Chiropractic More Effective Than Massage
A 2001 systematic review by Bronfort et. al. concluded that “Spinal manipulative treatment (SMT) appears to have a better effect than massage for cervicogenic headache. It also appears that SMT has an effect comparable to commonly used first-line prophylactic prescription medications for tension-type headache and migraine headache. This conclusion rests upon a few trials of adequate methodological quality.”
Chiropractic Shown To Be Effective Compared To A Control Group
One study of 127 migraine sufferers in Australia found that those that received chiropractic treatment had fewer attacks and needed to take less medication. Group 1 received chiropractic adjustments at specific vertebral subluxations determined by the treating chiropractor, while group 2 served as controls and received inactive treatment (electrical stimulation with no electrical current delivered).
Subjects receiving chiropractic adjustments reported substantial improvement in migraine frequency, duration, disability, and medication use following two months of treatment.
Below is a video of Sandlyn‘s Success Story for Migraines. Prior to receiving treatment at Georgia Clinic of Chiropractic, Sandlyn had received a battery of tests from various neurologists, but she still wasn’t able to find a doctor who could successfully treat her migraines. Through chiropractic treatments that specifically addressed her migraines, she is now living pain-free and can’t even remember the last time she had a migraine.
If you’re a migraine sufferer and you’re tired of dealing with your migraines, we would be more than happy to sit down with you to see if our customized care as migraine-specialized Chiropractors in Augusta GA may be the right course of treatment for you. We welcome you to schedule a complimentary consultation to find out if your migraines would be a candidate for our customized treatments.
The Georgia Clinic of Chiropractic Blog is written by Dr. Mark Huntsman.
For a chiropractor in Augusta GA that specializes in migraines, visit our main website at www.georgia-clinic.com.
Choose several options to schedule your appointment: call (706) 814-5053 or use our online form.