Migraine

Has anyone tried chiropractor and did it work? I feel as though I'm running out of options in regard to conventional medicines... and need to find solutions before I go crazy...

Hi Kiwi -

I have gone to a chiropractor for years ever since I had several auto accidents with whiplash injuries - there comes a time when I just can feel things are out of place and I go get an adjustment - every couple of months or so. Helps with neck & back aches. But it has not made much of any difference to my Migraines. I have had regular adjustments (weekly) with no change in Migraine frequency - tried that for 6 months then gave up. I have gone for an adjustment in the middle of a Migraine (several times) with no relief - the chiro kept insisting, now your headache will go away, but it didn't.

Once in a while, I wake up with my neck feeling out of place, pain in the side of my neck radiating up into my head, and if I go to the chiro right away and get my neck aligned, it seems to stop a Migraine from developing, or make one end faster. But that would be the exception rather than the rule. And many neurologists suggest that you shouldn't get your neck adjusted. I always have them use a little device called an "activator" to adjust my neck, I don't permit them to crack my neck with their hands.

Many chiropractors claim that they can help with or eliminate Migraines, but I have never run across a Migraine sufferer who says it worked for them! My chiro has a neurological sub-specialty, and she says "if your headaches are neurologically based, an adjustment won't help." If your pain is from vertebrae in the neck being out of alignment, that's where they feel they can help. How often does that factor into a Migraine? I don't know. For me, it seems not very often.

There's my two cents worth.

- Megan

I used to see a chiropractor, but not for Migraine. After looking into chiropractic, I don't think I will see one again, but that is just my opinion.

Megs is right. I see a lot of them that say they can "cure" Migraine, yet I've never met anyone with Migraine who has been to a Chiropractor for that reason alone. I was seeing a chiropractor before I was diagnosed with Migraine, so, obviously, I never brought it up.

Several doctors I trust have advised me to NEVER let anyone, including a chiropractor, do anything to my neck. That's about all I know about it.

My neck is goobered up because I once went to a twist and crack chiropractor. I would never go to that kind of chiropractor at all for anything. When things are really out of whack, and I get catching and popping at my C2 vertebra, I do tend to trigger more and have more headaches in general.

Slowly, my new chiropractor is helping me to get my neck straightened back out. She uses an impulse, which is kind of like an actuator, only it's electric, to guide things back into place. It's gentle and pain-free, and I have no problem with her working on my neck. It's helped a lot for me, and I wish I had found my new chiro doc sooner.

I think a lot of the chiropractor issue is about finding one that uses a technique that works for you rather than against you. That's not always easy, and you can sustain some damage in the process of looking sometimes, like I did with the first chiro doc, whose treatment caused my neck issues. Not every chiro doc or technique is right for everyone.

Yea I went down a few times and the most recent time when I was in hospital the doctor that examined me reckoned that I may have injured my neck when I collapsed ... since then I've been getting chronic neck and back pain aswell as headaches (not always migraines)

And the other day when I was getting a back massage from my mum I couldn't feel part of my back! which was a bit of a concern... lol... anyhoo I thought I might run it up the flagpole and see who salutes it... worth a go... neurologist doesn't seem to know what he's doing so I guess I have to resort to my own measures....