Do you get headaches? Are you curious as to why they keep occuring? You’re not alone. Headaches are one of the most common complaints that people have. There are over 150 different types of headaches, and they can be triggered by a variety of things, including stress, dehydration and tension. Although there are many different known triggers, and you probably know what your specific triggers are, there isn’t an exact known cause to most headaches according to mainstream medicine. In the chiropractic world, however, we have noticed that almost all headaches have one thing in common: Nerve pressure.

If you’re an athlete experiencing regular headaches and you’re not sure why, it may be worth getting them checked out by a chiropractor. Of course, each case is different and no two headache cases are the same, but one thing that remains constant is that they almost always have nerve pressure in the upper thoracic and/or cervical spine. Some of them are even caused by pressure in the lumbar spine (lower back). 

You may be wondering, “How do I know if my headaches are caused by nerve pressure?” 

The short answer: get your nervous system checked by a Gonstead chiropractor.

At our office, we use multiple tools to assess the nervous system, including CLA Insight scanning technology. This technology allows us to see if nerve pressure is present, causing your headaches. If we find areas of spinal stress, then we know we can help to relieve that pressure and get rid of your headaches. Watch the video below to learn more about the scans!

We use these scans during your initial assessment, so we can determine if we can help you or not. We then re-do the scans periodically throughout a course of care, to make sure we are making progress and removing nerve pressure. We also use a device called a nervoscope or Delta-T on each subsequent visit to determine the exact location of the nerve pressure. Using this device each visit allows us to determine when and where we need to adjust. But more importantly, it tells us when NOT to adjust. The whole goal of the adjustment is to remove nerve pressure. If it is not present during your visit, then we do not need to make an adjustment. This is good news because it means you are healing!

Now you know a potential cause of your headaches. Headaches caused by nerve pressure are very common, and they are also very treatable. If you’re struggling with headaches, don’t hesitate to reach out to our office. We would be more than happy to help you get to the bottom of your headaches and find a treatment plan that works for you.