Chiropractic Care Helps Boy With Migraine-Type Headaches – A Case Report

A case report was published in the January 2010 issue of the scientific publication, “Explore, the Journal of Science and Healing”, documenting the case of an 11 year old boy who was suffering from migraines and was helped with chiropractic care.

In this case an 11 year old boy was brought to a chiropractor after having suffered with headaches for the previous four years. The boy was diagnosed by their family physician with “migraine-type headaches” three years prior to the chiropractic visit. He was prescribed medications which provided only minor and temporary relief. According to the boy’s mother her son experienced at least one severe headache every seven weeks and two to three mild to moderate headaches on a monthly basis.

In his description of the pain, the young boy described his pain as throbbing, but he was unable to point to any one spot. His headache attacks would last from a couple of hours to 5 hours in duration, and were sometimes accompanied by nausea and vomiting.

A chiropractic examination revealed that several areas of the boy’s neck were very sensitive to the touch causing him to pull back as the chiropractor was examining these areas. Care was initiated using specific adjusting procedures for his spinal findings with the sensitivity to his neck being considered.

After a four week period it was noted that the boy experienced only one “mild” headache attack during this initial period of care. At a follow up visit nine months later the boy reported that he had only experienced “couple of mild headaches but no migraine-type headaches.” Six months after that visit the report noted that the boy was symptom free. At the mother’s request the boy continued periodic chiropractic visits for preventative purposes.