Resolution of Chronic Migraine Headaches and Improvement in Cervical Spine Kyphosis Following Chiropractic BioPhysics® (CBP®) Treatment: A Case Report With a Seven-Month Follow-Up

TL;DR

A 29-year-old man with chronic migraines saw significant improvement in symptoms and cervical spine posture after undergoing Chiropractic BioPhysics® treatment over seven months.

Contribution

This case report demonstrates long-term improvement in chronic migraines and cervical spine alignment using CBP® rehabilitation protocols.

Findings

The patient experienced a 16° improvement in cervical lordosis after treatment.

Headache disability decreased by 30% and all initial CM symptoms resolved.

Improvements were maintained at a seven-month follow-up with infrequent maintenance treatments.

Abstract

We present a chronic migraine (CM) patient demonstrating significant improvement in subjective and objective reported outcome measures with deeper cervical lordosis parameters and reduced forward head posture on radiographs. A 29-year-old male suffered from CM reporting significant pain and disability with aural, sensory, and motor disturbances during the migraine headaches. Aura with visual disturbances, abnormal facial and extremity sensation, sporadic motor weakness, and other signs of CM were found in the patient's history since age 10. The patient reported previous physical therapy, manual chiropractic, and over-the-counter medications. Migraine-specific prescriptions without long-term reduction in pain and disability were reported. The pain and suffering had been reported to be worsening, and he sought Chiropractic BioPhysics® (CBP®) spine and postural rehabilitation protocols. These protocols were used to increase cervical lordosis, reduce coronal imbalances, increase mobility, and create better posture. These protocols include specific prescriptions based on radiography for postural exercises, postural mirror image® (MI®)traction, and specific spinal manipulative therapy (SMT) focused on posture. All outcome measures improved with the resolution of all initial symptoms of CM. There was a 16° improvement in cervical lordosis, a 30% decrease in headache disability, and additional improvements. These improvements were maintained at a seven-month follow-up during which the patient received infrequent maintenance treatments. This successful treatment of a patient with CM with long-term follow-up adds to evidence that CBP® spinal structural rehabilitation may prove effective and serve as a possible tool for clinicians, physicians, and therapists to treat CM.

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