Migraine Specialist in Rancho Bernardo

The Migraine Research Foundation describes a migraine as “an extremely debilitating collection of neurological symptoms that usually includes a severe recurring intense throbbing pain on one side of the head.”

Hello, I’m Dr. James Pietrek. I’m a chiropractor and migraine specialist in Rancho Bernardo.  If you have migraines, set aside the next few minutes right now because I have some helpful information for you. I see migraine cases every single week and we’ve had excellent results. Now, you may be thinking “I’m not sure if I want to see a chiropractor because I really don’t want to have my neck cracked”, or you may be afraid that seeing a chiropractor and that getting your spine adjusted may make your condition worse – causing you to miss even more days of work or making next year’s holidays even worse.

Migraines can cause nausea, vomiting, and sensitivity to light which may cause you to need to “check out” of work or play activities, responsibilities around the house and ruin your quality of life. As a result, migraines may affect your pocket book and family life (for you AND your family members).

There are only a few causes of disease in the body: viral, bacterial, genetic, hormonal, stress-related; you might get bit by a bug or suffer a major flesh wound. But consider another potential cause of your migraine headaches: Structural.
Have you been injured? Have you experienced a situation in which your head or neck may have been traumatized? Is your head on straight?

It sounds funny, but an imbalance at the top of the spine could cause biomechanical problems in the lower spine and other parts of the body. This has to do with your body’s righting reflexes. Your body would rather have your spine “jammed up” and in pain than to bottle up the imbalance in the top of the spine.  Your head is about 13 pounds – heavier than most bowling balls, so it truly is a balancing act just to stand upright with good posture.

An imbalance in the top of the spine may also affect the blood flow from the neck to the brain.  In our office, we have a noninvasive test which measures for temperature and blood flow imbalances in the neck which may point to the cause of your migraines.

Usually at the level of this temperature imbalance, there is a tender area which usually indicates a significant misalignment. The next step is to take a 3-dimensional X-ray study of the top of the neck so we can know for sure how your spine has misaligned. Eliminating the guesswork and preparing for an ultra-gentle, ultra-specific spinal adjustment is the first step in our structural approach to migraine relief.