Headaches are the most common health conditions and affect everyone at somepoint in their lifetime. The challenge is for those people suffering with chronic headaches that become an unfortunate part of life. As much as 18% of women and 6% of men in the United States have active headache conditions.
It is well researched how headaches happen but not so much why they happen. The most common triggers for headaches include caffeine, alcohol, and chocolate. However there are scientists are now looking at another factor, barometric pressure (aka atmosphereic pressure). In a recent study of people with migraines it was found that 75% of patients reported headaches on relation to changes in barometric pressure.1 It is easy to avoid the things that trigger migraines but there is no way to control changes in the weather.
Barometric pressure is simplistically the amount of air pressure around you. When weather rapidily changes from good to bad it is typically a massive drop in air pressure. The system in the body that adapts to air pressure is controlled by the brainstem at the base of the brain and skull. The brainstem is responsible for most involuntary actions happening in the body through the Central Nervous System (CNS). When the pressure drops, it can cause the areas commonly associated with migraines in the brainstem to be triggered.
Dr Ian Bulow, a migraine specialist in Cranberry Township, PA is taking a different approach to get natural relief from migraine headaches. As an Upper Cervical Chiropactor Dr Bulow is an expert on the Atlas Bone (C1 vertebra) and how it relates to brainstem and central nervous system. The Atlas bone encompasses the brainstem from where it exits the skull and passes through the spine to become the entire nervous system.
If the Atlas moves from its natural position and becomes misaligned it affects the structures attached to the spinal cord and vascular in the head and neck. By careful analyzing and providing a specific chiropractic adjustment only when needed the Atlas can return to its proper position. Studies have shown that patients with headaches have improved with as little as 1 Upper Cervical Chiropractic Adjustment.
When the Atlas is in its proper alignment the brainstem can function normally in regulating migraines and the healing process over time.
