Headache and Sleep Position

After seeing a 31 year old female patient this morning who has been having headaches daily for many years the importance of asking about sleep position was once again brought to my attention. The chiropractic care she had been receiving at our office was working great for headache relief but when her headaches returned it was always in the morning when she awoke.

I asked if she was sleeping on her belly which is a known factor in morning headache occurrence. No, she was not sleeping on her belly. Then I asked if she was lying on her side but leaning half way toward sleeping on her belly. Yes, was her reply.

I knew immediately this may be a factor in the occurrence of her morning headaches. After discussing how she could alter her sleep habits by simply hugging a pillow to her chest to keep her straight up and down on her side the occurrence of morning headaches stopped. 

Sometimes chiropractic care alone is not enough to stop headaches from occurring even though chiropractic care has been shown to be the answer for approximately 80% of headaches of all types. In the more difficult cases some good old fashioned detective work will reveal the answers...if you know which questions to ask!