Specific Chiropractic Care in Fairhaven, MA
A subluxation is a word chiropractors use to describe the loss of movement, swelling or inflammation, nerve root irritation, disc issues, and degenerative changes – like arthritis – at a specific joint level. This joint dysfunction and spinal nerve root irritation can be the cause of a headache. It is important to rid your body of these subluxations because not only can they cause physical ailments but, if left untreated, they can also cause visceral issues such as acid reflux, constipation, ear infections, and other problems not typically associated with chiropractic care. The spinal nerve roots not only sense pain, numbness, and tingling sensations when they’re irritated by a subluxation, they can also cause muscle spasm and weakness and organ and gland dysfunction.
One way to illustrate how a subluxation works is to imagine a garden hose leading to your vegetable garden. If a large rock is sitting on that hose, and the garden only gets a trickle of water each day, how healthy do you think that garden will be in a week, a month, a year? Those beautiful vegetables you were counting on will not flourish. The job of a gardener is to take the rock off the hose, much like the job of a chiropractor is to take pressure off of the nerves by removing the subluxation with a chiropractic adjustment. It’s said that just the weight of a dime can reduce the function of a spinal nerve root by 60%.
The spinal nerve roots travel between the bones in your neck and back branching out millions of times to innervate every gland, muscle, and organ in your body. The nervous system runs your body, and the spinal vertebrae protect it. If a vertebra is subluxated you cannot be at your best! Your vitality and energy will drop and you won’t be able to perform optimally. If your headaches are caused by a subluxation, the issue won’t get better until the subluxation is corrected.
Massage Therapy and Soft Tissue Work
Massage therapy by a licensed massage therapist (LMT) can help with a headache’s symptoms, though it may not be the ultimate solution. An LMT will assess your muscle spasm and work to loosen up any tight muscles that have restricted spinal movement that may have perpetuated a subluxation. It’s important to have the chiropractors at Barley Wellness assess whether your headache is from a simple tight muscle or a subluxation that is creating that tight muscle. Many times, we find the underlying cause of muscle tension headaches is a subluxation.
Custom Therapeutic Exercise Plan
Muscle weakness and imbalance will persist when a subluxation occurs. This may lead to Forward Head Posture, creating muscle tension in the upper back and neck. Once the subluxation is corrected it’s important to strengthen those muscles through exercise in order to maintain that correction. Sometimes a patient develops Upper Cross Syndrome which can result in imbalances of muscle tone or timing, often leading to poor movement patterns. In our tech-heavy society, upper cross syndrome increases stress on the head, neck, and shoulder joints. Poor posture at any level may lead to muscle imbalances and headaches.
Our doctors will customize a plan for you based on your functional assessment. They will not only help you in the office with these exercises but will also have a plan for you at home. We will give you the “How-Tos” to avoid aggravating the problem.