Stress Induced Headaches

STRESS INDUCED HEADACHES

A twenty-seven year old female appears in my office with multiple symptoms, including pain in the neck and shoulders, tightness in both arms, headaches, difficulty in sleeping, knots in her stomach, some nausea, irritable and nervous.  The patient was the manager of a local business.

The patient has recently had a physical exam including blood work.  All tests were within normal limits.  The patient had been placed on a number of medications, including anti-inflammatory, muscle relaxers and “nerve pills”.  The patient has tried her medications without satisfying results.  She continues to have pain and symptoms.

Examination of this patient revealed normal reflexes of the upper and lower extremities.  Range of motion was restricted in the neck and low back but without additional pain.  The remainder of the orthopedic tests was essentially negative.  Neurological tests were negative.  Palpable muscle tightness in the neck, shoulders and low back.  Trigger points were located in the trapezius muscles, scalene muscles, supraspinatus muscles, and the latissimus dorsi.  Motion palpation suggested a subluxation (segmental dysfunction) at the levels of C1, T2, T8, and L5. 

X-rays were taken of the patient. Radiological findings were negative for fractures and pathologies.  Subluxations (vertebral misalignments) were noted at C1, T2, T8 and L5.  My findings from the clinical examination and X-rays were discussed with the patient and her husband.  I suggested that physical and emotional stress from her job was the most probable cause of her symptoms but that the stress was superimposed upon an underlying spinal weakness. I advised a trial course of spinal manipulations for the reduction of her nerve pressure symptoms and specific therapies for her muscle problems.  The patient and her spouse agreed.

The patient was treated for four weeks and then re-evaluated. The headaches were gone and the patient was sleeping much better.  The trigger points were approximately sixty percent better.  She had no nausea and no knots in her stomach.  She continued to work in the high stress of her job as manager but without the symptoms and without medications.

Her treatment continued until her spinal problems stabilized.   She was placed on a once a month program to handle the continued stress of her job and to prevent the return of her multiple symptoms.

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