When the word chronic is used in healthcare to describe a condition it means that it has existed for a minimum of 3 to 6 months. Most of us have experienced periodic headaches over years but that doesn’t qualify as chronic headaches unless there is a regularity to those headaches.
If you experience headaches more than once a month I consider those to qualify as chronic headaches.
Why have I included Chronic Fatigue and Chronic Headaches together?
First download my FREE GUIDE The Roadmap to Overcoming Chronic Pain and Fatigue
I often see people with chronic headaches suffering many of the symptoms of chronic fatigue. Chronic pain of any kind will create a cascade of body responses over time. Pain is accompanied by inflammation and a nervous system imbalance that I will discuss shortly. This will interfere with quality sleep that sets the stage for a perpetuation of inflammation, fatigue, and pain.
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome can seemingly come on suddenly and last for years. Looking at the underlying imbalances will help direct us to the success factors. Chronic Daily Headaches occurring 15 or more days a month have sleep disturbances in common with CFS.
Chronic Fatigue & Headaches Causes More of the Same!
This cycle of chronic fatigue, pain, and headaches driving inflammation, disrupted sleep, pain and more fatigue is a key in understanding why chronic issues like fatigue and headaches are self-perpetuating.
Sometimes it is possible to correct the cause of chronic fatigue or chronic headaches. Occasionally headaches are driven solely by a food intolerance or allergy and even less often can chronic fatigue syndrome be easily corrected.
More often there is a complex set of imbalances that perpetuate and worsen both of these conditions. Pain is both caused by and accompanied by a state of inflammation in the body. The inflammation causes pain and the state of chronic pain promotes more inflammation.
Pain and inflammation create conditions of elevated stress hormones that interfere with a healthy circadian rhythm essential for quality sleep. Poor quality sleep interferes with healing and recovery and causes fatigue. This cycle of pain, inflammation, and poor sleep further promotes poor sleep and the cycle continues.
Both chronic fatigue and chronic headaches are associated and aggravated by structural and neurological imbalances that over time result in ever worsening imbalances that aggravate the underlying conditions that perpetuate chronic fatigue and headaches.
And, the cycle continues with a tendency to worsen over time unless you do something to correct imbalances.
Three Most Critical Success Factors
Let’s explore some alternatives to traditional medical care. You always have the option of utilizing medications, getting injections, and undergoing procedures and possible surgery. But, all those come with significant unwanted effects. Our medical system would like you to believe they are “side effects” but they are just as much effects as the relief of pain.
Medical care tends to lead to more medical care and the more you do the more likely you are to suffer unwanted effects from the treatment. Your body wants to heal and it is striving 24/7 to create a state of balance and healing. The fact that you are suffering from either chronic fatigue syndrome or headaches or both is an indication that your body is unable to bring you back to balance.
Let’s explore the top 3 Chronic Fatigue and Headache success factors!
My Story
When I was 18 years old I was driving a car involved in a head on collision. My head struck and broke the windshield. A trip to the hospital by ambulance followed by more than 30 stitches to my forehead and I was ready to go, or so I thought. More than six months later I found myself experiencing chronic pain, fatigue, frequent headaches, and difficulty concentrating. Medication and physical therapy didn’t offer any lasting relief. It wasn’t until I discovered chiropractic that I found a way to correct the imbalances that were driving my symptoms.
I’ve spent more than 35 years in practice exploring, researching, and developing the best techniques to produce predictable and consistent results in my chronic fatigue, chronic pain, and chronic headache patients.
Here are what I’ve found to be the 3 most critical success factors!
Success Factor #1: Physical Structural Balance. Your body is forever striving for balance. Biochemically and physiologically we call this balance homeostasis. Balance is an intricate dance involving physiology, biochemistry, neurology, and your physical structure.
Your structural balance refers primarily to your spine and pelvis. Your brain wants your head to be level with the horizon. When it is unlevel it causes a lot of muscle tension in the neck and shoulders in a continual attempt to balance your head. This produces tension throughout the neck putting pressure on the brain stem in the upper neck. All of this activates the Sympathetic “Fight-or-Flight” System which drives muscle tension and pain, inflammation, and interferes with sleep.
The vast majority of people I see are imbalanced starting in their pelvis and this causes compensations and imbalances all the way up to the upper neck.
The first priority of mine when I start working with someone is to bring them back to greater structural balance. Anything else done on top of structural imbalance has a tendency to reinforce the imbalance.
Success Factor #2: Upper Cervical Spine and Cervical Curve. The cervical spine or neck is home to the brain stem in the upper neck. This is the control center for regulating all the body functions that happen outside of your conscious control from digestion to heart rate to wake-sleep cycle to much more.
When the top vertebrae in the neck are out of balance it puts pressure and tension on the brainstem and causes an imbalance in the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS). This activates the Sympathetic “Fight-or-Flight” System which drives up muscle tension and pain and increases inflammation while interfering with quality sleep.
This also causes a corresponding reduction in activity of the Vagus Nerve of the Parasympathetic Nervous System which is often referred to as the “Rest and Digest” system. Healthy Vagus Nerve function promotes lowered heart rate, lowered muscle tension and pain, reduced inflammation, better recovery and healing, and healthy sleep among other health promoting functions.
A reduction, loss, or reversal of the normal cervical curve also creates a lot of tension throughout the neck and puts extreme pressure on the brain stem, the suboccipital nerves resulting in muscle tension and spasm.
Correcting neck motion and curve is critical to restoring ease and relaxation to the muscles and nervous system.
Success Factor #3: Vagus Nerve Tone. Proper Vagus Nerve function is essential to everything you associate with health and well-being. It is also critical to success in correcting chronic fatigue and chronic headaches. The Vagus Nerve helps regulate and promote:
- Lowered heart rate and blood pressure
- Healthy digestion
- Reduced muscle tension and pain
- Reduced inflammation
- Better sleep balance
- Healthy immune system function
- Healing and recovery
With any chronic condition like chronic fatigue syndrome or chronic headaches the activity of the Vagus Nerve has been inhibited by a couple of factors:
- Activation of the Sympathetic “Fight-or-Flight” System shuts down the Vagus Nerve.
- Pressure on the Vagus Nerve in the upper neck interferes with its function
- Poor sleep, inflammation, and tension creates a self–perpetuating cycle that inhibits the Vagus Nerve.
In addition to correcting the structural imbalances it is critical to repeatedly activate the Vagus Nerve. Think of it like exercising the Vagus Nerve. Just like a muscle gets stronger the more you use it, the Vagus Nerve function improves the more you activate it.
In addition to chiropractic care the single strongest way to activate the Vagus Nerve is using Conscious Breathwork. In my practice I utilize these 3 skills and practices to nurture the Vagus Nerve back to a healthy balance:
- Diaphragmatic Breathing: this is a critical foundation for conscious breathwork. The effectiveness of any breathwork is diminished without building a foundation of breathing using the diaphragm.
- Nasal Breathing: far too many people use their mouth to breathe. Believe it or not the mouth is not intended to be a primary means for breathing. The nose filters air, warms the air, and helps in the production of nitric oxide. Nasal breathing also promotes using the diaphragm. If you are not eating, drinking, or talking then close your mouth and breathe through your nose.
- Vagus Activating Breathing Practices: there are a number of breathing practices many of which can be done anytime and anywhere that will activate the Vagus Nerve. I suggest starting and ending your day with a specific practice that has been shown in research to increase Vagus Nerve activity.
These breathing practices can be done anytime you feel an increase in tension or stress for immediate relaxation and relief. And, the more you repeat these practices the stronger the Vagus Nerve will get.
It is important to keep in mind that the imbalances that both accompany and aggravate chronic fatigue and chronic headaches started long before your symptoms became consistent. It is vital that you commit to these 3 factors with enough consistency for a long enough time to reverse the underlying imbalances.
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I look forward to exploring how we can help you.