At The House Clinics in Bristol, many patients come to us for the treatment of migraines and headaches.  Some of the more effective and non-invasive treatments for the symptoms of headaches are spinal adjustments, acupuncture and massage therapy. Medicine has come a long way since the days where migraines were thought to be a curse to be endured but these days migraines often are treated with strong prescription medications. Improper or prolonged use of medications can actually perpetuate the pain of migraines and may cause withdrawal symptoms in long term users.

A holistic approach can relive pain without drugs and actually prevent migraines from happening.

1. Identifying Triggers. Many sufferers of migraines have triggers which can bring on an attack. The first step in prevention is identifying those triggers. For some it is hormones or food allergies, for others it can be something in the environment. Because physical and mental stress is one of the most common triggers of headaches, massage can relax painful tension in areas that aggravate the headaches. These areas include the neck, face, shoulders and scalp.
2. Massage. For many, a massage during a headache or migraine can be highly effective. The goal of massage during a migraine attack is comfort. Treatment should be relaxing in nature and avoid being too deep or vigorous. For some patients even this treatment may even prove too painful in which case ice around the sore areas and foot and hand massage may be an effective alternative.
3. Seeing a Chiropractor. Not all headaches are created equal but the cause of many of them may lay in the way our bodies are aligned.  A Chiropractor can often help identify what type of headache the patient suffers from and if it is migraine, what may trigger it. Anytime the spinal bones are misaligned or compromised in some way, headaches can occur due to nerve or tissue pressure. Often a series of spinal adjustments to return misaligned spinal bones to a more normal position and motion can relieve pressure on irritated nerve roots. Chiropractic adjustments have shown to be as effective as medications in reducing the severity and frequency of headaches.
4. A course of Acupuncture. Acupuncture is another non-pharmacological method of treatment which has brought many patients relief for headaches.  The painless placement of fine needles at carefully identified points on the body is believed to realign the natural pathways that run through the human body. Recent studies published in the British Medical Journal have shown that acupuncture treatments reduced the number of migraines by an average of 21 in patients over the course of one year.

Some people seem to avoid treatment for chronic headaches because they assume it necessarily involves high doses of medication. But there are techniques that treat the symptoms which are completely non-pharmacological and can be just as effective. A holistic approach to health means treating the whole person and the underlying issue not just the surface symptoms. From relaxing massage to ease pain to acupuncture and chiropractic alignment to prevent headaches from occurring, there may be drug free solutions to ease persistent headaches and migraines.