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Migraine Headaches (Part 1 of 3)
Migraine Headaches effect over 30 million people yearly. Dr. Glickert of The Vanguard Clinic offers insight into alternative treatments.
Migraine Headaches: A solution to the problem (Part 1 of 3)
My history with migraines
Let’s begin with who I am. My name is Dr. Michael J Glickert and I am the director of clinic operations for The Vanguard Clinic here in St. Louis, Missouri. We are a healthcare facility that specializes in Functional Medicine and Functional Neurology to treat chronic pain conditions; including migraines. Migraines are a passion of mine because as a child, my mother suffered from migraines. Which means as a rambunctious child I was often sent outside to play. When I was allowed in the house I was required to play quietly. As I grew older, I started to see how much the migraines really affected my mother. She wasn’t able to be a ‘mother’. When she had a migraine, she didn’t play with me; she slept. When she had a migraine, she didn’t cook for my brothers and I; she often ordered food in (usually cheap pizza). When she had a migraine, she didn’t come to any of my sporting events or school events; she hid in a dark room.
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I don’t blame my mother for any of these things, but I do know the impact on children as I experienced it. I know my mother hated having them and would have given just about anything to get over them quickly. I’m sure it just devastated her that she wasn’t able to ‘be a mother’.
Thus, as my practice has changed and grown, I knew that I wanted to help moms beat their chronic pain conditions. Especially those that have migraines and suffer regularly with them.
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That’s enough about me, let’s move on to why you have migraines. Migraines are often sprung on by numerous factors. They can be autoimmune (your body is attacking itself), it could be environmental (allergies to bleach, household chemicals are common), it could be food sensitivities (MSG is a major player in migraines), it could also be caused by structural problems in the upper spine/skull (occiput may compress the Superior Cervical Sympathetic Ganglion). Those are the most common causes of migraines (at least from what I’ve noticed in my office in treating patients with migraines).
What can you do?
As far as things that you can do at home go, start eliminating certain things around your house to see if they trigger your migraines. Replace all cleaning products with non-chemical based products. Clean up your diet and eat fresh food (no more processed meals). I highly recommend a Paleo style diet for my patients with migraines with supplementation for Vitamin-D and the B-vitamins.
What can we do?
Since we practice Functional Medicine and Functional Neurology when we evaluate a patient that suffers with migraines then we conduct a thorough neurological examination. We need to determine if your migraines are caused by a hard or soft lesion (discussed in more detail next week). Also, we run blood tests and possibly food sensitivity testing (also discussed in more detail next week). Additionally, we’ll be sure to check the relationship between the occiput and upper cervical spine. This is a very delicate area and even a small misalignment can have profound complications. We also offer a variety of other therapies that can address migraines, including our Class-IV K-Laser (one of the highest powered lasers in the St. Louis area), cervical traction and brain based therapies.
Additional Resources
If you want more information on the specifics of what we do, then please visit our website. I created a video not too long ago that details some of the things that we do specifically to address migraine patients.
www.thevanguardclinic.com/migraines
Also, if you would like more information on our clinic, be sure to visit us on the web or in person!
Also, if you’d like to email me directly, please don’t hesitate to send over your questions! mglickert@thevanguardclinic.com
I look forward to seeing you soon!
Chiropractic Physician
The Vanguard Clinic
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van·guard noun - a group of people leading the way in new development or ideas
The Vanguard Clinic is an innovated health care facility with a focus on treating patients with chronic pain conditions such as thyroid disorders, migraine headaches, fibromyalgia, peripheral neuropathy, irritable bowel diseases and many other conditions. We utilize a completely unique approach to restoring both hope and health to our patients.