Headaches & Migraines

by Kristen R. Clore, BS, MOT, OTRL

The Basics of Headaches and Migraines

Headaches can be caused by chemical activity in your brain which affects the vessels of your head that are outside of your skull. Muscle impairment, structural alignment, or nerve strain in the neck may also lead to a headache. To better understand headaches, let us review a few different types of headaches, their causes, and symptoms.

• Tension headaches (aching in the back of the head that does not change with bending or positional changes)
• Migraines (experienced as pounding or throbbing, may be accompanied by sensitivity to light, smell, or noise and may experience nausea or vomiting)
• Cluster headaches (least common; experienced as an intense burning or piercing behind the eye)
• New Daily Persistent Headaches (NDPH) (sudden onset yet persistent headaches on both sides of the head and do not respond to over-the-counter or prescribed medication). This is caused by an inflamed pituitary gland in the middle of the brain which only nutrition can help.

Other reasons for headaches include, allergies, sinus headaches, carbon monoxide poisoning, dehydration, dental problems, ear problems, grinding teeth at night, inflammation of arteries, food additives & preservatives including MSG, or rebound headaches from overuse of pain medication.

How do headaches start?

Foods sensitivities or allergies to additives like nitrates (processed meats), gluten, and casein (white dairy protein) all trigger a headache.

We find that organ dysfunction in the body is the most common cause of headaches and migraines. Examples:

If the thyroid isn’t working well, it causes a headache upon awakening that eventually fades in the morning.

The pituitary can cause headaches on the side of the head as mentioned above.

The gallbladder causes headaches above each eye – one distinct spot above each eye.

Spinal misalignments cause tension headaches that start in the back of the neck and go up the back of the head.

If the cerebellum is tired from over-thinking and computer use, the whole brain feels spent and there is a dull pain in the back of the head.

There are many causes of head pain. None of which are a deficiency of ibuprofen or some other drug.

When should I see a Nutrition Response Testing Practitioner for headaches?

It is time to seek help and holistic headache relief from a Nutrition Response Practitioner when you have any headaches, especially if it begins to interfere with your life, happiness, productivity and independence. Headaches are never “normal”. Any headache is a sign of dysfunction. If you are avoiding activity, social functions missing work or withdrawn, you have let your headaches go on too long. Now is the time to seek help from a Nutrition Response Practitioner who has a holistic approach to migraines and headaches.

How will The Nutritional Healing Center of Ann Arbor help relieve my headaches?

When you come to the Nutritional Healing Center we take a holistic approach to restore overall health and we focus on your main symptom. We use Nutrition Response Testing to identify what your body system needs to detoxify and provide nutritional support in order to help your entire body return to optimal function. When your body functions optimally, your pain goes away. We also have chiropractic and applied kinesiology services to help with headaches due to structural impairment, especially those related to TMJ. We do great work getting rid of headaches and migraines. Our percentage of success is much higher than any drug based therapy.