Headaches:
With the exception of head colds, headaches are probably the most common human ailment. According to the National Headache Foundation, three out of four Americans had a headache during the past year. Usually, headaches are merely passing annoyances that go away with aspirin or after a nap, but as many as forty-five (45) million people suffer from chronic and/or severe headaches that seriously interfere with their lives. All told, headaches account for eighty (80) million of all doctors' office visits and more than four hundred (400) million dollars are spent on over-the-counter pain relievers each year. Like colds, headaches are not completely understood by scientists. There appear to be various types of headaches, but any hard and fast classification is open to debate, in part, because the types often overlap - both in symptoms and in response to medication. Moreover, triggering factors and modes of relief vary from person to person. Still, the great majority of primary headaches (those not due to underlying diseases) fall into three categories, according to the International Headache Society: tension, migraine and cluster.
What Are Tension Headaches:
Tension headaches are also called a muscle-contraction or stress headache (see suboccipital triangle picture above). This is the type of headache with which everyone deals occasionally. The dull, steady pain -- mild compared to migraine or cluster headaches -- may be felt in the forehead, temples, back of neck, or throughout the head. A feeling of tightness around the scalp is typical, and muscles in the back of the upper neck may feel knotted and tender to the touch. It's not known whether the sustained muscle tension itself or the subsequent restricted blood flow causes the pain. Tension headaches are associated with stress (often the pain comes after the stress has ended), fatigue, or too much/too little sleep. These headaches can be triggered by assuming a posture that tenses your neck and head muscles for long periods of time, such as holding your chin down while reading. Gum chewing, grinding your teeth or tensing head and neck muscles during sexual intercourse may also trigger them. Men and women are about equally likely to suffer tension headaches. Tension headaches that occur daily may be a sign of clinical depression. In some cases, the headaches may cause the depression; in others, treating the depression makes the headaches go away.
What are Migraines:
The word migraine, derived from the Greek, means "half a skull," an apt introduction of the pain which usually occurs in only one side of the head. Migraines appear to involve the abnormal expansion and contraction of blood vessels in and around the brain. In some people migraines start with distorted vision, called an "aura," generally characterized by zigzag patterns of shooting lights, blind spots, and/or a temporary loss of peripheral vision. The throbbing, pulsating pain can be incapacitating and can last anywhere from a few minutes to several days. If the pain lasts longer, it is probably not a migraine. Migraine sufferers may also experience nausea, vomiting, and sensitivity to both light and noise. About eighty (80) percent of all migraine sufferers have a family history of the ailment, and women are nearly four times more likely to be afflicted. The typical sufferer is young (under the age of 35) and had her first attack during her teens or twenties. With age, attacks usually become less severe and less frequent. Hormonal changes can play a role; thus, susceptible women may have more attacks around the time of menstruation or if they take oral contraceptives. They may have fewer attacks during pregnancy and after menopause. Attacks can also be instigated by certain substances in food, emotional factors, and environmental factors, such as glaring light, strong odors, and changes in the weather.
Migraines are often accompanied by nausea and vomiting, and frequently affect only one side of the head. In the classic form, the pain follows certain warning signs: flashing lights (the aura); blind spots; tingling;or numbness on one side of the body. The aura is always the same for each individual. An "abortive" migraine features the aura without the headache. Biofeedback and other nontraditional techniques occasionally help prevent, though do not relieve, migraines; heat and other muscle-relaxing steps generally do not prevent or relieve them either. Since migraines may be sparked by specific factors, sufferers should keep a headache diary to pinpoint any possible triggers.
People have blamed migraines on alcohol, monosodium glutamate (MSG), nitrites, and a host of other food and drinks. Migraines have also been linked to birth control pills, estrogen replacement therapy, menstruation, irregular eating, sleeping schedules, bright lights, and noises. The supposed migraine personality: compulsive, neat, and rigid is probably a myth.
What Are Cluster Headaches:
Cluster headaches strike in a group or "cluster" for up to a few hours and recur daily for days, weeks, or months on end. There may be months of freedom between attacks. Some researchers consider cluster headaches a variant of migraines, largely because the excruciating pain is centered on one side of the head, as in a migraine. However, unlike the throbbing of a migraine, this pain is steady and piercing. There are other notable differences: typically cluster headaches strike at night or early morning, and the pain is located around or behind one eye or in one temple. Cluster headaches are about six to nine (6-9) times more likely to strike men than women. The first attack usually appears in a person's 20's or 30's. They are sometimes misdiagnosed as a sinus disorder (because stuffy nose or sinus congestion is a common symptom) or as an abscessed tooth. There ia no clear cause although heavy smoking and drinking are possible contributing or triggering factors.
Treatments for Headaches:
Most headaches are tension headaches, caused by a muscle spasm in the back of the head and neck. The spasm can be sparked either by emotional stress or by holding the head in a fixed position (for example, while facing a computer screen or driving for hours). A history of head trauma, whiplash, repetitive strain from postures associated with computer use, and poor sleep habits may be associated with the pain. Sometimes the pain can be very severe and felt in the back of the head and encircling the head in a vise-like band. It is common for headache sufferers to experience neck pain and stiffness as well. Tension headaches are sometimes helped by measures to relax the tight muscles. These measures include: massage, hot showers, heating pads on the back of the neck, or cold packs. Biofeedback and muscle-relaxation training may be helpful. The majority of headaches can be helped by Active Release Techniques® (ART®).
What to Expect From Your Treatments:
ART® is the most effective treatment for headaches. ART® is the only treatment that can free up the scar tissues at the base of the skull and neck that cause most headaches. These ART® treatment protocols - over five hundred (500) of them for the entire body - are unique to ART®. They allow providers to identify and to correct the specific problems that are affecting each individual patient. Patients can expect restoration of optimal soft tissue texture and motion, restoration of the function of the soft tissue, and the release of any entrapped tissues, nerves, or blood vessels.
Treatments take about fifteen to thirty (15-30) minutes for each condition being treated. A condition may require eight to ten visits before all headaches are gone. Joint manipulations and physical therapy are frequently carried out in conjunction with ART® to increase treatment effectiveness.
Whenever possible, patients perform active head movements during the treatment process to alleviate any restrictions. Active motions stimulate neurological pathways in the spinal cord that help to reduce pain during treatment. Motion also helps to reproduce the stresses the patient will actually be under during normal daily activity.
Note: The majority of headaches can be helped by Active Release Techniques® (ART®).
