Migraine Headaches

A migraine is the cause of about 20 percent of all headaches. According to mid-20th-century research, this type of a headache occurs when blood vessels of the head and neck constrict, resulting in a decrease in blood flow to the vessels. More modern research suggests that a complicated series of neural and vascular events are to blame; in chronic sufferers, a state of over-excitability may occur in the nerves of the occipital cortex, at the back of the brain.

A migraine is usually experienced as a throbbing pain on one side of the head with an associated feeling of sickness and sensitivity to light and sound.

Migraines are known to affect more women than men and are often chronic. Below are some of the factors that have been identified as being associated with migraines:

• the family history of a migraine.
• prolonged muscle tension and stress
• alcohol use.
• exposure to tobacco smoke.
• poor sleep
• for women, menstrual periods and the using oral contraceptives
• certain foods such as chocolate, nuts, and fermented or pickled condiments, as well as foods containing the amino acid tyramine (mature cheese, red wine, smoked fish) and foods containing preservatives and artificial sweeteners.
• At KRISTON CLINIC, we provide Osteopathy treatment which can be extremely effective in the treatment of migraine headaches. Osteopaths are expertly trained to feel tension changes in all body tissues, with the use of gentle manipulation techniques.
• Osteopathy will increase the motion of bones, organs, membranes around organs(including the brain), and the lymphatic motion allowing a healthy flow of blood and lymph fluid, delivering oxygen and other nutrients to the whole body and allowing the body to remove toxins and taking pressure t Groff cranial nerves.
• The free motion of the cranial bones allows for the normalization of both blood flow and cerebrospinal fluid flow around the brain, alleviating headache patterns.