How Chiropractic Treatment, Massage Therapy, and Acupuncture Alleviate Migraines, Distress, and TMJ

Do you know that chiropractic care can treat symptoms of distress in the body, including migraines and TMJ? Specifically, when traditional chiropractic treatments like spinal decompression and spinal alignment are used in conjunction with other holistic care treatments like acupuncture and massage therapy as part of an inclusive full-body regimen, chiropractic care is much more effective in maintaining whole body wellness, including treating the cycles of chronic pain and distress in those that suffer from migraines and TMJ.

Inclusivity of treatment options is a chiropractic care approach that allows focus on specific chronic pain caused by common ailments, while also recognizing the connectivity within our bodies and the effects of stress on them. By not only treating the condition causing the pain, but also alleviating stress manifestations in the body, symptoms of distress and cycles of chronic pain can be broken—all with drug-free, natural treatments.

Relieving Distress: Treating Migraines and TMJ with Chiropractic Care in Beverly Hills

Stress can trigger a number of ailments in the body that cause chronic pain. That chronic pain then increases the level of stress in the body, creating a debilitating cycle. When this stress response cycle prolongs and becomes severe, your body begins to internalize and fall into distress—an excess of stress beyond our natural resources and abilities to cope. Distress compounds physical pain with mental health fatigue, and can be difficult to come out of without proper care. While it may be common to turn to OTC or prescription pain relievers to treat what may seem like the main culprit, this does not treat the accompanying distress, nor prevent prolonged suffering.

Alternatively, with inclusive chiropractic care, additional treatment options are implemented into your chiropractic treatments. Both migraines and TMJ—two of the most common manifestations of distress in the body—are conditions that can be caused by various issues, but depending on the individual, can be treated with inclusive chiropractic care for pain relief and prevention:

  • Migraines are a common chronic issue suffered by someone in 1 in 4 American households—about 12% of the U.S. population. When the number of those who suffer from tension headaches is combined with chronic migraine diagnoses, the number of those suffering from daily, debilitating headaches is staggering. Migraines occur as a response to food allergy, chemical reaction, or stress, and cause the blood vessels in the brain become dilated—visual disturbances and sensitivity to light, dizziness, severe head pain, nausea and vomiting may then result.

Avoiding known triggers can help manage the onset of migraine episodes, and medication can provide temporary pain relief. However, it has been proven that certain bodywork techniques can effectively reduce the frequency of migraines, as well as alleviate the severe pain that comes with. This is especially evident in migraines and other cases of tension headaches and mixed headaches caused by stress, by implementing stress relief-based treatment options such as massage therapy techniques, reflexology, and acupuncture.

  • TMJ, abbreviated from Temporomandibular Joint Dysfunction, is actually a disorder that causes pain in the sliding hinge joint that connects your jawbone to your skull. TMJ can be caused by a number of issues or a combination of factors including genetics, arthritics, jaw injury, stress, or habitual grinding of the teeth or clenching of the jaw. Some people that suffer from TMJ report minor or temporary pain of all levels, including: jaw pain and tenderness, pain in one or both jaw joints, aching pain around the ear, difficulty chewing, aching facial pain, joint locking, and a clicking or grating sensation when opening the mouth.

For those that suffer from TMJ, it is often a painful cause and effect cycle that debilitates jaw movement, facilitating even more contributing factors such as poor diet and sleep habits, which make the issue and subsequent pain even worse. Chiropractic care treatments can actually treat the trigger points of the jaw that cause symptoms of TMJ, as well as help to reduce contributing factors and alleviate overall body tension and joint dysfunction.

Implementing Massage Therapy and Acupuncture into Your Chiropractic Care

At our Beverly Hills chiropractic boutique, we are dedicated to providing full body wellness care, including stress relief. That is why our chiropractic team is comprised of alternative medicine experts certified in acupuncture and massage therapy.

Massage Therapy and Chronic Tension

Massage therapy is a holistic treatment approach that treats so much more than simple tissue and muscle tightness. Frequent chronic tension present in those that suffer from migraines, tension headaches, and symptoms of TMJ can be alleviated through massage therapy with intentional focus on easing muscle tension in the neck, jaw, and shoulders. For sufferers of TMJ specifically, deep tissue and soft tissue massage of the thick, deep muscles of the jaw can especially help not only treat pain symptoms, but prevent movements that perpetuate the condition.

A therapeutic approach to stress management, massage therapy combined with your chiropractic care works from the inside out by increasing serotonin, blocking pain signals, promoting circulation and blood flow, and relieving muscle spasms. In addition, this chiropractic tactic of massage therapy simply help you relax, which in turn serves to destress and maintain healthier posture and sleep habits as well as increase overall mental health—all of which contribute in breaking the cycle of stress and chronic pain.

Acupuncture

Acupuncture has a long history in holistic medicine. For chiropractic treatment purposes, techniques to treat different ailments in the body are used in conjunction with chiropractic spinal treatments. This involves a focus on myofascial pain—hypersensitive clusters of trigger points caused by trauma or repetitive movements—to reduce inflammation, muscle spasms and muscle stiffness, and assist in regaining overall muscle strength and mobility.

Acupuncture as integrative medicine, like chiropractic, utilizes the knowledge of interconnected pathways between the body’s meridians to increase nervous system communication in the body and aid in abnormalities and pain caused by communication blockages. By targeting specific distal locations, pain and inflammation can be reduced in areas of the jaw and head that contribute to TMJ and tension headaches. In addition, acupuncture helps to restore the Qi and stability in the body as a whole, alleviating distress which becomes a major contributing factor to chronic tension manifestations.

When treating distress and its indicators, inclusivity in holistic medicinal care is vital to maintaining a healthy, whole body. If you are in need of migraine or TMJ relief specifically, talk to your chiropractic care team about how you can end the cycle of chronic pain and distress. 

Call Tannenbaum Chiropractic in Beverly Hills today and learn how massage therapy and acupuncture can alleviate chronic pain and distress.