Sherri, a 38-year-old stay at home mom, had severe headaches her entire life. She had to endure them four or more times per week and most made her head feel as if it "was going to blow off" her shoulders. It stressed everything in her life, even taking care of the daily needs of her child.

Over the last 30 years, she had seen countless doctors, yet they found "nothing wrong." She had been in the hospital, tried several treatments and was even told that she might have to "just live with it."

She had never been to a chiropractor before and was "a bit nervous," but was dragged into our office by her friend who assured her that she wouldn't be hurt. Nearly a year after she started treatment she wrote us a letter saying "After my second adjustment, I was able to turn my head (instead of turning my entire body). It was amazing, it really worked." "I haven't had a severe headache in 7 or 8 months."

What went wrongnot just with her body, but also with our healthcare system? Why was she given so many ineffective and even dangerous treatments? In effect, she was told that everything possible had been tried. Why is a less effective and more dangerous treatment recommended in place of one that is safer and more effective especially when many medical journals and research organization like Rand Corporation have reported this?

The answer may lie in the numbers. The International Headache Society's (IHS) classified 129 different categories of headaches. Further compounding the problem, there are over 20 different specialists that treat this condition. Each specialty knows their approach to treatment, but if your type of headache falls outside of their scope, it is often ignored or even belittled. Unfortunately it leaves the headache sufferer to search for his own answers, often in defiance of their primary care doctor. Many headache sufferers know just what I'm talking about.

If you fall off your bike, hit your head, and start vomiting, we all know to go immediately to an E.R. If you have a headache that started with a fever, altered consciousness and a rash--then your best choice is probably your internist. But, if your headaches are not associated with a fever, a direct head trauma or a loss of consciousness--your doctor of choice should be a Chiropractor.

The leading medical authoritative body on headaches, the IHS, tells us that the leading causes of headaches are "Tension-type" and Cervicogenic. These types of headaches both arise from the muscles, nerves, ligaments and bones in the neck.

There is not another specialist who is as prepared to treat headaches that arise from the neck as is a Chiropractor. In fact, many of the other types of headaches, including migraines, can be triggered by the structures in the neck and are helped as well.

The neck is the most common origin of headaches and here's why:

1. The upper two nerves leaving the neck refer pain to the back of the skull and top of the head.

2. "Trigger Points" or knots in spasmed neck muscles refer to the top of the head and face.

3. A newly discovered bridge of tissue connects the meninges (a covering surrounding the brain) to the upper neck muscles. The meninges can be stretched when the neck is misaligned or in spasm and create a terrible headache.

The only treatment for these types of headaches is to correct the neck problem. No pill or injection will ever fix this problem. In fact the medicine often treats the symptom but erodes your stomach, and can lead to kidney and liver damage with prolonged use. Rebound headaches can occur from as little as 3 over the counter headache pills per week. Then it's really hard to get to the bottom of the problem. Unfortunately, medical physicians are not trained in treating these types of headaches since neither medicine nor surgery is recommended.

I'm not suggesting that Chiropractic care is the best choice for all headaches-it is not! In fact these are the "red flags" that signal that a medical specialist, especially a neurologist, is your first choice:

1. A headache that accompanies generalized illness, fever, nausea or vomiting.

2. An abrupt onset of a "new type" of severe headache especially if it awakens you at night.

3. A headache accompanied by alterations in speech, coordination or intellectual function.

4. A headache that coincides with weakness or numbness to an extremity or side of your body.

Triggers such as diet, allergies, chemical sensitivities, drug and medication usage have to be assessed, as well, to completely rid yourself of most chronic headaches. A good Chiropractor can correct the spinal faultsa better one will help you find the aggravating triggers.

Some headaches are a combination of genetic factors, hormonal imbalances and structural faults such as Migraines and Cluster headaches and may require a combination of doctors working together to achieve a satisfactory result. As always, rest assured that if other specialists would be beneficial to your case, we will bring them in. But, please don't ignore the structural faults that may be the real cause and are often ignored by medical practitioners.

As always, share this information with those you know who have headaches and feel free to talk with us about your headaches.

About The Author

Dr. Rick Morris is the founder of the The Morris Spinal Stenosis and Disc Center in Santa Monica, Ca. You can read more of his health articles or contact him at his website, http://wevegotyourback.org