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CHIROPRACTIC TOPS FOR HEADACHE RELIEF For many chiropractors and their patients, it is an obvious fact that chiropractic adjustments successfully help patients with various types of headaches. However, while several studies have documented the treatment's effectiveness, until recently there have been no major reviews comparing studies on chiropractic’s effectiveness with studies on other treatments’ effectiveness. Such a comparison would provide guidance to health-care practitioners and people with headaches about what treatments work best. Now, a new research review of treatments addresses this gap. The review, by Duke University's Evidence-Based Practice Center, examined studies on several headache treatments, including drug therapy. Of all the treatments, noninvasive neck adjustment came out as one of the safest and most effective. Duke researchers concluded that spinal adjustments -- a practice performed almost exclusively by chiropractors -- is the most effective treatment for cervicogenic headaches, which are those that originate in neck muscles or vertebrae. They also found that neck spine adjustments caused far fewer side effects than a commonly prescribed headache medication called amitryptaline. Eighty-four percent of patients taking amitryptaline experienced headaches whereas just 4% of patients getting adjustments had side effects. And the medication provided only short-term benefits. Whereas chiropractic addresses the cause of the problem, not just the symptoms. |
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Dr. Tooka Shahriari |