Do you suffer from headaches or know someone who does?

The head is the most common area of pain in the body, causing throbbing, squeezing, unrelenting or intermittent pain in the head, face or neck area.

In the western world, the standard model for treating headaches is often a symptomatic ‘band-aid’ approach including painkillers and anti-inflammatories. These can certainly be beneficial, however, for long-term relief and wellness it’s vitally important to locate the root cause, and this is what our dedicated team at Empowering Wellness is passionate about.

Like any pain in the body, a headache is a symptom that something isn’t right. There are two main categories:

a) Primary Headaches – tension-type headaches and migraines that occur mainly as symptoms of stress, eye strain, poor posture, dehydration, hangover, lack of sleep, etc.

b) Secondary Headaches – are caused by some underlying health condition such as the flu, sinusitis, allergies; or another symptom caused by medication effects, illness, head injury, trauma, or disease.

When treating headaches, Empowering Wellness Clinic Burleigh follows the Triad of Health model to analyse and find the source of our clients’ pain so that we can treat them correctly to restore their health and wellbeing.

The Triad of Health Model

1. Structural or physical source: there may be a misalignment of the cervical or neck vertebras. The misalignment will cause interference through the nervous system, and if it persists, in time it will start developing inflammation. When there is inflammation, there is a lack of circulation, and this lack of oxygen in the neck area will reduce the access of oxygen to the brain, therefore generating a headache. Through Chiropractic Care our Doctors bring the spine back to alignment, removing the interferences and as the inflammation decreases, the headaches will go away.When the misalignment in the cervical spine or neck area has persisted for an extended period of time, the inflammation will be exponential. In these cases, Remedial Massage therapy will be ideal even before the Chiropractic adjustment is done to release the inflammation process and activate the circulation and oxygenation of the area of pain.
2. Chemical or nutritional source: the body’s chemistry is a common cause of many types of headaches. Dehydration can be a simple cause that can be managed by drinking plenty of water. Whereas hormonal imbalances, nutritional deficiencies, inflammation and neurochemical imbalances (e.g. serotonin) require a specific treatment plan such as Chiropractic, Kinesiology and Naturopathic therapies or a combination of treatments. The lack of certain minerals can be a key when it comes to headaches. Through our collective experience, we can help you detect what your body is asking you for through the symptom of the headache.
3. Emotional or mental source: stress is a common cause of headaches and understanding the origin of the stress is key to moving forward (for example it could be issued with your job, relationships, finances, and health). Kinesiology and Neuro Emotional Technique are positively embraced by Empowering Wellness to analyse and treat this source of headaches along with other complementary treatments such as massage and naturopathy. Most of the time a headache is a sign of exhaustion in one or another way. It may be that you have just been going through too much, for too long. This is when nurturing and pampering ourselves with a Massage can be what we need the most. Sixty minutes only – where we can relax and let go into the professional healing hands of a Remedial Massage therapist. Sixty minutes where nothing needs to be said or done may be exactly what you need to say goodbye to that headache.

If you suffer from headaches or are seeking to restore or boost your health and vitality, please give us a call ph. 5535 9833 to make an appointment with one of our dedicated holistic health therapists. Click here to view our services.

Contact Empowering Wellness today – We are passionate about honouring your body’s ability to self- heal and helping it function the way it is designed to.

Important note: In the above blog we have discussed the common factors and sources of headaches, however please seek medical attention immediately if:

• you have a severe blinding headache that suddenly appears and worsens rapidly
• you incur a severe head injury
• when you cough, laugh, sneeze or move you get a sudden headache
• you experience slurred speech, confusion, weakness, drowsiness, memory loss, or trouble walking
• you have a fever, jaw pain when you chew, neck stiffness, rash, vision, sore scalp or bad eye pain. stiff neck, rash, pain in the jaw when you chew, vision problems, a sore scalp or bad eye pain.