Chronic headaches now reach epidemic proportion

Having chronic headaches can severely disable an otherwise healthy individual. They can lower your activity level, drain your energy, and even make you irritable and depressed. As a result, both personal and professional relationships can be negatively affected. Your productivity can be severely limited. Chronic headache pain is one of the United States’ most prevalent health problems. According to the American Academy of Pain Medicine, 157 million days of work and school were lost last year due to debilitating chronic headache pain. What’s more, nearly everyone recently surveyed reported at least occasional recurring headache pain, with the number of chronic sufferers reaching over 45 million annually.

There are four different “types” of chronic head pain: tension, traction, inflammatory, and vascular. Regardless of what type of pain is experienced in the head, neck, or face, it is all referred to by the broad term headache. The web of connected nerves in your face, head, and neck all experience sensation through a “nerve root” called the trigeminal nucleus. Since this nerve root collects all the sensory information from the head/neck/mouth area of the body, it is often an underlying condition somewhere within these areas that causes the chronic, severe headaches.

It’s common for chronic headache sufferers to lose hope and feel that they’ll never experience life without headaches, especially after undergoing extensive testing by different specialists and not finding a lasting, pain-relieving solution. Although recommendations to manage their stress and change their diet can be beneficial to overall health, doing so may not target the cause of their painful symptoms. Chronic headache pain sufferers are often left taking over-the-counter or prescription drugs. Or worse, they are told that their pain isn’t real or that it’s “all in their head.” People who have coped with chronic headache pain may feel defeated by such a statement, and a key factor in pain management and treatment is a positive attitude.

Now there is finally a solution for chronic headaches that offers lasting pain relief. Unlike some traditionally offered treatments, Dr. Johnson’s pain relief therapy actually addresses and treats the sources of the problem — the cause — instead of temporarily masking the pain. Using a combination of techniques that have been proven effective in sports medicine to speed an athlete’s recovery, Dr. Johnson’s system targets the improper muscle forces in the head, neck, and jaw area that cause the painful conditions.

Evaluations include objective, computer-assisted imaging to pinpoint a patient’s issues. Then, based on the findings, weekly in-office treatment involves a personalized program of gentle light therapy, muscle stimulation and manipulation, and a customized orthotic device worn in the mouth during therapy. Patients also follow a specific continuing care program which includes exercises to be done at home between the weekly treatments. These combined therapies are proven to provide long lasting relief of severe and chronic headache pain by re-training the muscles and nerves connected by the trigeminal nucleus to function properly, thus restoring comfort.

The treatment pathway to care presents several benefits that people suffering with chronic headache and migraine pain might not encounter with some traditional solutions. The approach used by Dr. Johnson relieves pain without surgery, pills, or dangerous, costly injections. It corrects the nerve and imbalanced muscle function without invasive procedures. And, whereas most other common treatments stop at the doctor’s office or pharmacy, this program provides patients with an at-home care kit that helps put them in control. Best of all, this treatment protocol has provided real, lasting pain relief to people who truly believed there was no such thing as a life without headaches.

Dr. Johnson, says that over 90 percent of the patients who have used this treatment have experienced success — long lasting relief of their pain. Most patients notice marked difference after just one visit. Bringing this kind of relief to patients after a long period of pain is also rewarding for Dr. Johnson. When asked how he felt about this new treatment system and its results, he said, “It really is incredible to watch a person transform from someone plagued with chronic, disabling pain, into a happier, healthier individual. From someone who had lost all hope into someone that has hope restored. That is essentially what all healthcare professionals strive for, and our approach to therapeutic treatment helps us achieve that for our patients.”

In conclusion, the chronic headache epidemic is a real problem in America, and now thanks to Dr. Johnson’s unique system for care, there is a real solution. If you, like so many others, have suffered with chronic headaches, there is hope. When it seems like nothing has helped and there will never be relief, don’t give up. Call Dr. Johnson to learn more and see if this is right for you. Imagine how much your life could change. You could be the real you!! The real person you know you are!!

Heartfelt Headache Relief in Coeur d’Alene offers you a free consultation to discuss your problem. A diagnostic examination focused on revealing the root cause of the pain, and treatment (dentomandibular rehabilitation) which targets those root causes without drugs, needles, or invasive surgical procedures may be the answer you have been looking for.

Dr. Donald Johnson founded Heartfelt Headache Relief in Coeur d’Alene to help patients stop their pain and live free with no limits! His office is at 114 W. Neider Ave. in Coeur d’Alene, near Costco. The website for more information is www.HeartfeltHeadacheRelief.com and the office phone is (208) 667-4551. Schedule an appointment today!