Migraines are one of the most crippling and common secondary conditions (symptoms) modern humans suffer from.
There are many reasons why migraines can develop.
The good news regarding migraines is that they are a SECONDARY condition.
What does that mean?
That means that there is a PRIMARY condition that CAUSES a migraine.
That means getting migraines is not a “normal” part of being human (I’ve had patients over the years tell me their doctors told them this).
Migraines are also not hereditary.
If we know that migraines are caused by a primary condition, it would make sense that fixing the primary condition would resolve the secondary condition.
So, what is the primary condition that causes migraines?
The following are the main primary causes: structural shifts and abnormalities of the cervical spine (neck) and surrounding tissues, environmental toxins, emotional stress, being sedentary, and poor dietary habits.
Of those, structural shifts of the spine are most often neglected.
Most folks understand the importance of optimal structure.
Think of the structure of a home, bridge, or vehicle. The structural foundations of each play a critical role in their stability, functionality, and longevity.
It takes a painstaking amount of effort and accumulated knowledge, skill, and craftsmanship to create a strong building, home, bridge, or vehicle.
Due to ever-present stressful forces (like gravity, wind, extreme temps, shifting of the earth’s crust, etc.), the foundation of these structures can shift and weaken over time, creating secondary conditions that impair their functionality and durability.
Maintenance is inevitably required to protect and maintain its functionality over time.
The human body is no different.
Consider the following image:
A normal neck structure is on the left. As the human neck structure progressively shifts over time due to the stressors of life, the structure shifts, creating more advanced stages of structural abnormalities (to the right on the image above) that obstruct normal nerve and body function, leading to secondary conditions like migraines.
Anterior Head Syndrome (as seen above) is a common primary condition that occurs when the head shifts abnormally forward, leading to the secondary condition know as a migraine.
Much like a building, home, or vehicle, the human spine has an OPTIMAL STRUCTURE.
The spine is the foundation of the human body, much like the foundation of home.
Normal spinal structure allows for optimal movement, functionality, and physiology by minimizing physical stress on joints and soft tissues and optimizing communication of the electrical system of the body (brain and nervous system).
When the foundation of a home shifts, secondary conditions eventually develop. This may include the walls cracking, windows not shutting properly, or the roof leaking.
Without correcting the structural shifts, the secondary conditions are likely to persist, no matter how many times you try to replace the windows or fill in the cracks.
Similarly, when the structure of the human spine shifts from normal, secondary conditions (symptoms) are likely to develop.
While nobody is going to be PERFECTLY normal, there is an acceptable range.
Like a home or vehicle, a human spine is subjected to many stressful forces throughout life. These forces cause structural shifts, leading to impaired functionality, durability, and strength.
Structural Chiropractic care aims to correct structural shifts and restore optimal human function.
While traditional chiropractic care is great for a quick “patch up”, long-term correction and optimization of the spine REQUIRES a thorough, OBJECTIVE analyis to determine what needs correcting
While you can get symptom relief in a visit or two, you CANNOT objectively correct abnormal structure in just a couple of visits. It’s a process that involves getting the spine to move correctly and conditioning the muscles and ligaments around it to maintain the proper alignment over-time.
That process is what the focus is at Complete Chiropractic.
Complete Chiropractic 