The Annals of Vertebral Subluxation Research published a case study on May 7, 2018, documenting the resolution of severe hemiplegic migraines after chiropractic care. Hemiplegic migraine is a rare and severe form of migraine headache.
The American Migraine Foundation describes the condition as, “Hemiplegic migraine is a rare form of migraine where people experience weakness on one side of their body (hemiplegia) in addition to the migraine headache attack. The weakness is a form of migraine aura and occurs with other forms of typical migraine aura like changes in vision, speech or sensation.”
The study notes that migraines are a common ailment affecting about 12% of the population. It is three times more prevalent in women than in men and is most common in people between the ages of 22 and 55 years. There is some familial tendency with about 50% of those who suffer from migraines having a parent with the same condition.
In this case, a 36-year-old woman suffering from migraine headaches presented herself to a chiropractor. She had never been to a chiropractor before. Her migraines began when she was 17-years-old and had been getting progressively worse with time. Two years prior to seeking chiropractic, her medical doctor diagnosed her with hemiplegic migraines. The woman would typically have an episode every other month with each migraine episode lasting from between two weeks to a full month. During her migraines, she would experience numbness over the left side of her body including her face.
Her history records that at the age of 16, she was in a motor vehicle accident where she was thrown out of the bed of a pickup truck. From this accident, she suffered two sprained ankles and a whiplash injury. She was currently on two medications for migraines and bipolar disorder.
A chiropractic examination was performed which included static and motion palpation, range of motion tests and neck x-rays. It was determined from the tests that subluxations were present in the woman’s neck. Chiropractic care was started to address the patient’s issues.
On her second adjustment visit, one week after her first visit, the woman reported that she did not have a migraine episode since receiving her first adjustment. On her third visit the following week, she reported having only one “traditional migraine” for one week from what she attributed to was “sleeping wrong.” On her fourth visit, she reported that she did not have any migraines of any type since her previous visit that week before. A follow-up was conducted seven months later at which time the woman reported that she was still migraine-free.
In their discussion the authors of the study state, “Spinal adjustment is recommended for the management of patients with episodic or chronic migraine with or without aura.” They continue by explaining subluxation and the central nervous system, “The central nervous system seems be the ultimate source of migraine. The possibility that abnormal brain hyperexcitability starts migraine attacks is now widely accepted, and the disease threshold seems to be determined by genetic predisposition.”
If you or anyone you know could benefit from less interference within their nervous system, please call us at 512-452-2525 to schedule a consultation with Dr. Swanson. Chiropractor in Austin, TX.
According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine’s Medline Plus website, “A concussion is a type of brain injury. It involves a short loss of normal brain function. It happens when a hit to the head or body causes your head and brain to move rapidly back and forth. This sudden movement can cause the brain to bounce around or twist in the skull, creating chemical changes in your brain.” Estimates of the number of concussions range from 2.5 to 3 million cases each year in the U.S. alone.
The authors of this study report that glaucoma affects between 1% and 3.4% of the population. It is the second leading cause of blindness, behind diabetes. Estimates are that 60.5 million people worldwide had glaucoma in 2010, with that number expected to rise to 79.6 million people suffering with this condition by the year 2020. The medical approach to this problem has been medications designed to reduce intraocular pressure.
This study begins by discussing the importance of a normal forward curve in the neck. A normal curve not only helps the neck absorb shock, but helps the head be in a more normal upright position. The authors wrote, “The loss of cervical lordosis and anterior head posture has long been identified with numerous significant health issues. These health issues include cervical, shoulder, and headache pain. The loss of cervical curvature also causes anatomical changes to the cervical spine including a shortening of the anterior or posterior vertebral column.”
The Mayo clinic website defines tension headaches by saying, “A tension headache is generally a diffuse, mild to moderate pain in your head that’s often described as feeling like a tight band around your head. A tension headache (tension-type headache) is the most common type of headache, and yet its causes aren’t well-understood.”
Some form of Chiari Malformation, also known as “Arnold-Chiari Malformation” (ACM), is found in about 1 in every 1000 people. There are four types of CMs each with a different type of malformation and severity. This condition is more common in women than men and can cause symptoms of headache, neck pain, vertigo, sensory changes, and lack of voluntary coordination of muscle movements. Other symptoms can also included leg weakness, ringing in the ears, hearing loss, speech disorders, loss of consciousness, and scoliosis.
Epilepsy is fairly common. The U.S. 
The study begins by reporting that migraine headaches are the second most common cause of chronic recurrent headache in school children with a prevalence ranging from 3.2 to 14.5%. Migraines in children are different than adult migraines in that the episodes of children’s migraines are typically of shorter duration and occur on both sides of the head.
According to the study authors, headaches are the most common neurological problem affecting people. According to the 
The authors report that chronic daily headaches affect 2-4% of adolescent females and 0.8-2% of adolescent males. A diagnosis of chronic daily headaches is made when headaches occur more than 4 hours per day, 15 headache days per month or more, over a period of 3 consecutive months, without an underlying (medical) pathology.