Headache Causes

A headache can result from a lot of different causes. You can hit your head against a wall, fall down or get hit in the head with a flying object. Any of these are enough to give anyone a headache! But what about the not-so-obvious causes of headache? Are you familiar with them? Here’s a list of some additional causes of headache that Dr. Helton frequently sees in his Portland, OR practice:

1. Your cervical vertebrae are out of alignment. Nerve roots from the cervical spine emerge at the level of the cervical vertebrae. These nerve roots may be compressed if the vertebrae of the spine are out of alignment, and it’s relatively easy for this to occur. For example, newborns delivered via forceps delivery may suffer some compression of the spinal nerves during the birthing process. These types of injuries don’t always self-correct, causing a recurring headache for years, and need the gentle hands of a trained chiropractor to re-align the vertebrae.
2. Your blood sugar levels are low. Monitor your blood sugar levels during the day with a glucose meter, which are widely available. If your blood sugar levels fall to below 80 mg/dl, you’re in the low blood sugar zone, where developing a headache is likely to occur.
3. You have a food allergy. Allergies can cause more than sniffles. Having a headache after eating a certain food is a common allergy or sensitivity reaction.
4. You have high heavy metal levels. High levels of lead, uranium, and mercury are notorious for causing a headache. The body can accumulate high levels of heavy metals from the environment, especially where sandblasting is occurring and the metals are inhaled.

Talk to your Portland chiropractor, Dr. Helton about the bottom line cause of your headache. It’s the first step to living headache-free.