A suprising result for headaches sufferes

If you have ever had a bad migraine headache you would know understand just how horrible they are and would give anything just for them to stop.

The great thing about reasearch is sometimes it can yeild resuls that we may not think to be to be a first glance and this certainly the case with a recent paper that adresses the question

” What works better to reduce the severity and frequency of migraine headaches ? Weight training or exercise ? “

A recently published paper in the ” Journal of headache and pain ” reviewed 1195 migraine cases reported in 21 papers on the subject of Migraine headache and concluded that strenght and weight training actually results in the best improvement for migraine sufferes.

Not that the authors are arguing you head down to squat university when you room is spinnng and your about to stab your eye with spoon but if are a migraine sufferer you may be well adviced to start a weight training program weekly as a preventative measure.

And it’s more interesting too. Even though exercise was effective it was the high intenstity stuff that had a better result than the low intenstity workouts.

Of course both these are not mutally exclusive and you may be better planning on weight training a few times a week and also incorporting some high intensity cardio workouts as well.

But why ?

The paper looked a few possibilities.

Migraines are incredibly complex but there is a leading thoery that there some dysnfuction of the way the trigiminal nerve and nerves from the muscles interact at perhaps weights helps normalise this.

There is also a close association between migraine headaches and neck pain so maybe just adressing the neck pain through better muslce tone reduces the chances of frequency of migraine.

In regards to the high intensity exercise, it’s much more likely to cause chemical changes in the brain as endorphines and other chemicals are released so perhaps thay have a mediating role.

At any rate I doubt the ” why ” question will be understood with certianty any time soon but if you are migraine sufferer you really should try at least a weights program and see if makes any differences on the frequeuncy and intensity of your migraine.

References

Woldeamanuel, Y.W., Oliveira, A.B.D. What is the efficacy of aerobic exercise versus strength training in the treatment of migraine? A systematic review and network meta-analysis of clinical trials. J Headache Pain 23, 134 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s10194-022-01503-y

https://doi.org/10.1186/s10194-022-01503-y

There are 2 questions that Chiropractors get asked a lot

1. What is the cracking noice ?

2. Does it matter ?

The first question is lot easier to answer than the 2nd one.

In a health joint the joint is essentially a sealed cavity occupied by a small amount of synovial fluid that acts as a lubricant and also carries nutrients around the joint. This is why it’s important to stay hydrated but that’s a topic for another blog !

When you rapidly expand a joint, as happens in spinal manipulation and ” cracking ” your knuckles the space suddenly gets much larger. Becuase the pressure in the joint and fluid drops very rapidly gas comes out of the liquid which causes a ” popping sound ” . Think of it a bit like the bubbles in a can of Coke. when you pop the lid you decreased the pressure and gas comes out.

What the noise certainly isnt is bones cracking. If that was to occur we are going to have to call our malpractice insurer but in 20 years of doing this and over 20,000 treatements delivered I am happy to say this has never happened !

Does it matter ?

Short answer is probably not.

In a meta- review published Octber 2022 Morman and Newell reviewed 5 quality studies on the subject and concluded that the presence or absense of a ” pop ” did not have any measurable outcome on patients pain levels after a series of treatments.

Most chiropractors ( and patients )  including myself would propably prefer to hear it as it let’s us know that we have provided the joint with the right amount and direction of thrust to create a neurological response that is only seen in high velocity low amplitude thrusts otherwise known.

What is more important is that the joint ” free’s up ” a bit after a therapuetic intervention and this can be achieved by many different methods. So there is good news too if you are one of those people reading this that prefers the lower force techniques. It’s quite possible that techniques not incorporating the “pop ” are still just as effective.

This is probably yet another example of why Chiropractic needs to attapt and change in light of new evidence. There are plenty of the ” old guard ” that will go noise hunting to make that joint sing rather than bother to retest the joint and see if there has been a change in tone and range of motion.

And once again that old cavete. There are probably times when it probably really does matter too we just don’t have any good way of indentify what those clinical presentations may look like and how to correctly identify them.

The good news is it’s your body and that puts you in a unique to postition to help practioners understand what works best for you. If you are looking for an English speakin Chiropractor in Tokyo we hope you may consider our services.

To make an appointment please go to

References

1. https://chiromt.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12998-022-00454-0?fbclid=IwAR0LKs3v5DI7d5450DDHWXB65vnPZ5OA6wgpMza387d6yO6cU9OmPc0TszM#citeas

2. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0119470

There is a really easy way to increase your health dramatically that does not cost any money, does not require any sit ups or resisting chocolate. Do I have your attention now ?

Its sleep. It’s likely you are not getting enough both in quantity and quality.

Tokyo international chiropractic recently made some simple changes by cutting out caffeine after 2pm, reducing alcohol in the evenings ( well most of the time ! )  and tying to be in bed by 9pm and I feel a whole better for it. The results were obvious within a week or 2.

So why does sleep matter ?

Here are Tokyo International Chiropractic’s top 5 reasons

1. Good Sleep will Help you loose weight

Yep this one is a good reason right here.

No dieting or heavy lifting required. Short sleep is significantly correlated with Obesity.

There are many theories as to why but recent research suggest that tired people eat more calories and that you develop poor regulation of your hormones due to poor sleep (1). Good sleep was also associated with the ability to maintain a healthy weight so once you have lose the flab getting some better sleep may be a helpful way to help maintain the new you.

2. Good sleep will increase your mental health and decrease your risk of depression

There is an important link between you mental health and depression. It has been estimated that 90% of patients with depression complain about sleep quality (5)

Sleep deprivation can cause increased levels of anxiety and cause you to find problems and distress in situations where you don’t really need to (3). If you already prone to depression or other mental health issues then getting better sleep should be an even more important goal of yours than it may to others (4).

3. Good sleep makes you a better nicer person and a better spouse

Poor sleep affects your irritability level and those tiny problems we all have to deal with in relationships can snowball into something far more serious just because are emotional brains are not being kept in check. Just imagine we all have a 2 year old living in our heads and its good sleep that keeps the angry little baba inside us all in check.

Poor sleep can also make us less able to succeed in social interactions. We are less likely to able to read the danger signs that we may be rubbing a person the wrong way or they are not interested in what we have to say ( 6). In short poor sleep may be making you a bit of an asshole.

4. Good sleep decreases your risk of alzheimer’s disease and even cancer

This is some really interesting research. Poor sleep means that your body is not ridding itself efficiently of the build of of amyloid beta (Aβ) plaques in the brain. (7). This over a long period can increase your risk of getting Alzheimer’s disease.

Essentially just as your muscles make lactic acid and other metabolic waste products your thinking also also produces waste that needs to be washed out and broken down. Sleeping is the time our bodies use to clean our brains more than we are awake.

Having your natural circadian rhythms has also shown to be slightly associated with an increased cancer risk not just for shift workers but even those living in more challenging time zones (7) so there is some link between poor sleep and cancer risk.

The Australian lifestyle medicine has some great information about caring for your brain better on the post below

5. Good sleep will increase your performance at work and ability to earn a better income

If you want that promotion or better income from your time at work then performing better is going to help you. There is a host of research to back up poor sleep and poor performance but your own experiences are probably the most valuable here.

So how much sleep is enough ?

This is going to vary on your stage of life, occupation and your own individual makeup and stresses you are under at the time. Here are some general guidelines below

The amount of sleep you need each day will change over the course of your life. Although sleep needs vary from person to person, the chart below shows general recommendations for different age groups. This table reflects recent American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) recommendations.

If you routinely lose sleep or choose to sleep less than needed, the sleep loss adds up. The total sleep lost is called your sleep debt. For example, if you lose 2 hours of sleep each night, you’ll have a sleep debt of 14 hours after a week. So it’s not so much about how much per night it’s the amount over a few days and the week that really matters.

Sleeping when your body starts to tell you it’s time is also is very important.

Signs you are not getting enough sleep

If you’re getting less than eight hours of sleep each night, chances are you are going to be having some problems. Even worse being sleep deprived means you may be less likely to notice them !

Often people have been sleep deprived for so long that they forget what normal even feels like.

Here are a few signs to look for…

• Need an alarm clock in order to wake up on time
• Rely on the snooze button
• Have a hard time getting out of bed in the morning
• Feel sluggish in the afternoon
• Get drowsy after heavy meals or when driving
• Need to nap to get through the day
• Fall asleep while watching TV or relaxing in the evening
• Feel the need to sleep in on weekends
• Fall asleep within five minutes of going to bed

How to get better sleep

The following article has some great advice but some take home things are to avoid caffeine in the afternoons, avoid too much alcohol in the evenings and try and get some daily exercise of at least 20 minutes to a half hour

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/17-tips-to-sleep-better#section17

If you would like to make an appointment with an Australian trained English speaking Chiropractor in Tokyo please consider Tokyo international Chiropractic. You can book online here

References

1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23419528
2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28476339
3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27810176
4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28464848
5. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16259539
6. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20337191