Underlying inflammatory, immune triggers that may be contributing to your headache and migraines need to be addressed in the treatment of headache and migraines. Headaches are extremely complex to treat because there are multifactorial triggers. An integrative headache approach focuses on determining the multiple causes of inflammation and immune dysregulation that exacerbates and trigger headache at the same time specializing in prevention.
Environmental Triggers/Toxins
- We are exposed to thousands of chemicals on a daily basis through the air, food, and water. Sources of these chemical exposures in our environment include
- Continuous exposure to environmental toxins means we increase our body’s burden to eliminate these toxins—this constant burden results in a decreased efficiency in eliminating toxins out of our body which creates toxic overload = inflammation= triggers for headache.
- Detoxification is an important part of any path to decreasing inflammation and improving immune function. At Northwest Restorative Medicine, we restore healing with proper detoxification.
Dietary Triggers/Influences
- There are so many diet options and when it comes to specifics no one size fits all.
- Determining food intolerance allows you to identify what foods are triggering your headache.
Intestinal Permeability
- Intestinal permeability or leaky gut is often a source of inflammation and immune dysfunction = headache trigger.
- Dr. Squires has been successful in using therapies to heal the digestive tract by eliminating food triggers, decreasing intestinal inflammation, optimizing gut motility and establishing a healthy microbiome. All of these are important for treatment and prevention of headache.
Blood Sugar Dysregulation/Metabolic Disorder
- Elevated blood sugar and insulin resistance is a sequela of a sedentary lifestyle, chronic stress, and diets containing processed foods.
- Elevated blood sugar increases the risk of diabetes and heart disease by releasing unhealthy inflammatory markers. Increased inflammation through blood sugar can also be a headache trigger.
- Northwest Restorative Medicine offers labs to check blood sugar, lipids, thyroid, inflammatory markers, and adrenal function and helps formulate an individualized treatment plan.
Structural Misalignments/Nerve Inflammation
- Muscles tightness from physical strain such as misalignments of occiput/cervical vertebrae can be triggers for headaches. Muscles tighten putting pressure on the nerves resulting in nerve inflammation and sending pain signals to the brain.
- Perineural injection therapy or structural alignments are targeted therapies to decrease nerve inflammation
Social/Psychological Stressors
- Chronic emotional stressors lead to low-grade inflammation, which contributes to cellular dysfunction, chronic muscle tension, and immune dysregulation.
- Finding sustainable stress reduction techniques are crucial to decrease headache severity and frequency.
Mind-Body Connection
- The autonomic nervous system has two main parts: the sympathetic (“fight or flight”) component and the parasympathetic (relaxation/rest & digest) component.
- Regulating the autonomic nervous system by balancing the sympathetic and parasympathetic components reduces inflammation and enhances immune function leading to a decrease in headache severity and frequency.
Hormonal and Neurotransmitter Imbalances
- Hormone imbalances can promote or impede the genesis and perpetuation of inflammation, degeneration and immune system dysfunction.
- Appropriate testing and therapeutic correction of hormone and neurotransmitter imbalances can have profound anti-inflammatory benefits leading to improvement in headache frequency and severity.
Dr. Squires has a multifactorial approach to address all of these causative factors providing targeted therapies for holistic balance and benefit in the treatment of headaches.
