Headaches are relatively common in children and adolescents. The prevalence of severe recurrent headaches in those under the age of 10 is almost 10 per 1,000 and the number increases as the child gets older. Children's headaches (e.g., migraine) exhibit no gender variation before puberty. In late adolescence, however, twice as many females report recurrent headaches.

Pain medication only alleviates some of the discomfort by treating the symptom, but they do not address the underline cause of the headache.

Adults and children may experience pain medication side-effects. Best estimates of hospitalization and death amongst these patients from gastrointestinal ulcers caused by these medications are 40,000 per million (4 %) and 4,000 per million (.4%) respectively. In the US this amounts to 32,000 hospitalizations per annum, 3,200 deaths. Surgery carries even greater risk. Serious complications from cervical spine surgery for neck pain are 15,600 cases of paralysis or stroke per million, and the mortality rate is 6,900 per million.

The Chiropractic Approach:

One of the most common causes of headaches and neck pain is a condition that chiropractic adjustments help to correct. The condition is called cervical spine facet joint dysfunction or Vertebral Subluxation. It was demonstrated convincingly during the 1990's by medical researchers at the Cervical Spine Research Unit, University of Newcastle, Australia. The ten year line of research published in Spine reported the exact source of headache and neck pain in 60% of participants was facet joints in the cervical spine (neck bones). Correcting restricted movement of cervical facet joints, and thereby influencing associated spinal reflexes, nerves and muscle tension, is a principal target of chiropractic care.

Chiropractic is a viable solution for headache and neck pain, Contact Us now for your free exam and consultation on how we can assist you on a pathway to recovery.