It is long overdue, but the role of chiropractic is beginning to appear in the headache literature. Secondarily, this is good for the profession. Chiropractic is benefiting from ever greater exposure in the print and visual media, and not just as stereotypical low back doctors.
If your practice is similar to mine, you have many patients asking questions about headaches. For some sufferers, the most important question they want answered is, "What is causing my headache?" For most others, they simply want to know how to get rid of the headache.
Surprisingly, it is difficult to find a concise compendium of information on headaches suitable for the chiropractic setting, so I decided to create a headache diagnosis and management series for the chiropractic office. This is the first article of the series.
Headache is as broad as the subject of pain itself. Those who first encounter the headache literature immediately realize that the subject is as voluminous and interesting as it is perplexing. It has captured the attention of healers, philosophers, organized religion, and the multitude of headache sufferers.
In the 20th century, at least 100,000 articles and 1,500 books have been written on headaches. Theories explaining headache vary tremendously, ranging from the divine (original sin) to the microscopic (the nitric oxide molecule). There's much to known about headache, and the clinician needs to possess a good clinical baseline of understanding when treating the headache sufferer. So let's begin our series with a test of common, standard and/or important concepts regarding headache diagnosis and management.
Self-Test
Take this simple quiz and keep it close at hand for future articles. The answers to each question will appear in later articles. In fact, you may want to clip out each article and save the series for future reference. Keep in mind that each of these articles will also appear on the DC website.
Test Questions
When sports chiropractors first appeared at the Olympic Games in the 1980s, it was alongside individual athletes who had experienced the benefits of chiropractic care in their training and recovery processes at home. Fast forward to Paris 2024, where chiropractic care was available in the polyclinic for all athletes, and the attitude has now evolved to recognize that “every athlete deserves access to sports chiropractic."
It is estimated that 61% of patients with CTS avoid taking surgical options due to postoperative complications and costly surgical procedures. Chiropractic care offers a comprehensive and effective treatment for carpal tunnel syndrome, addressing the condition from multiple angles. Recent studies also have unveiled a game-changing adjunct to chiropractic treatments for CTS: nerve flossing.
Some doctors thrive in a personality-based clinic and have a loyal following no matter what services or equipment they offer, but for most chiropractic offices who are trying to grow and expand, new equipment purchases help us stay relevant and continue to service our client base in the best, most up-to-date manner possible. So, regarding equipment purchasing: should you lease, get a bank loan, or pay cash?
