Can chiropractic care help with chronic migraines?

Migraines are often associated with vertebral subluxation in the upper and mid cervical spine, where nerve interference and abnormal neck mechanics can play a role. At Rochet Family Chiropractic in Royal Palm Beach, we do not target the migraine itself. We locate and correct the underlying cervical subluxation, and when the nervous system is freed from that interference, the body is designed to restore normal function on its own. In this case, the patient's migraines resolved over a three-month corrective plan.

Why does a DJ's or desk worker's head position stress the neck?

Any job that holds the head forward and down for long stretches — DJing over a console, working at a desk, looking at a phone — increases the mechanical load on the cervical spine. Over time that sustained posture can flatten the normal forward curve of the neck and contribute to a subluxation pattern. The result is more stress on the joints, discs, and nerves of the neck than the structure was designed to carry.

What does loss of the cervical curve mean on a lateral neck X-ray?

A healthy neck has a gentle forward curve, called a cervical lordosis, that helps absorb load and support the head. On a lateral (side-view) X-ray, that curve can appear reduced, flattened, or even reversed. In a subluxation-based evaluation, restoring the cervical curve is a structural goal, because the curve is part of how the neck protects the spinal cord and nerve roots that pass through it.

Should someone stop their migraine medication once they feel better?

Any decision about prescription medication belongs between the patient and the doctor who prescribed it, and should never be made based on a blog post. In this case, the patient chose to reduce medications that had not been helping him, and by the interim re-evaluation his migraines had not returned. That was his choice to make with his own providers. Chiropractic care corrects the underlying subluxation; it does not prescribe or manage medication.

How long does it take to see changes with cervical corrective care?

It depends on how long the subluxation has been present, how far the structure has changed, and how consistent the person is with care. In this case a three-month corrective plan produced meaningful structural change and an interim re-evaluation X-ray. Every plan is individualized to what the person's own films and progress show, rather than a fixed timeline that applies to everyone.

His Migraines Stopped When We Restored His Neck Curve

How He Arrived

This month I want to share the interim evaluation of a 38-year-old man who came to Rochet Family Chiropractic with severe migraines and neck pain. He works in the entertainment industry as a DJ. Before he found us, he had already gone through the traditional medical route — drugs, stronger drugs, and more — and the migraines and neck pain continued, with no relief.

His work is part of the picture. Standing over the decks for hours, his head is held forward and down, which adds stress to his neck. That position, repeated night after night, works on the structure of the neck and drives a cervical subluxation deeper over time.

Why Medication Didn't Reach It

Let's talk clearly, because transparency maintains friendships. By the time he came to me, he had already worked his way up the medication ladder — drugs, then stronger drugs — and the migraines and neck pain kept coming back. Medication treats a symptom, but it doesn't address the cause. For some people that is the difference between quality of life and misery. His was a structural cause, and that is why medication was producing diminishing returns. The body adapts, because the symptoms are feedback letting you know that something may be wrong.

The Plan — A Royal Palm Beach Migraine Case

We started with a three-month plan to see what effect we could have on both his symptoms, as well as on the spinal structures that were under severe stress. His initial lateral cervical X-ray showed a loss of the normal forward curve of his neck, along with the segmental subluxation pattern we set out to correct.

Clinical Findings — Initial Examination

Patient: 38-year-old male, works as a DJ in the entertainment industry

Presenting complaints: Severe migraines and neck pain

Prior care: Medication route (drugs, stronger drugs, and more) without improvement

X-ray type: Lateral cervical

Primary structural finding: Loss of normal cervical curve with segmental subluxation

Contributing factor: Sustained forward head position while DJing

Care plan: Three-month corrective phase, followed by an interim re-evaluation

Lateral Cervical — Initial & Interim Re-Evaluation

Initial lateral cervical X-ray of a 38-year-old male DJ showing loss of the normal cervical curve and segmental subluxation, Rochet Family Chiropractic Royal Palm Beach

Before — Initial X-Ray

Interim re-evaluation lateral cervical X-ray showing restored curve in the lower neck after three months of subluxation-based corrective care, Rochet Family Chiropractic Royal Palm Beach

After — Interim Re-Evaluation

What a Healthy Neck Curve Does

A healthy neck has a gentle forward curve to it. That curve is part of how the neck carries the weight of the head and protects the spinal cord and nerves that run through it. On his initial film, that curve was reduced — his neck had straightened out of its normal shape, which is common in people who spend hours with their head held forward and down. For him it was the decks. For most people it is a screen, a desk, or a phone.

The curve matters because of what runs through the neck. A great deal of the nervous system passes through the cervical spine on its way to the rest of the body, and subluxation there interferes with how that system works. Correcting the subluxation is the work, and when the interference comes down, the body does what it is built to do. In my experience, the people who come to me with migraines very often have subluxation in the neck, and he was one of them.

Three Months In

The results are evident. In three months' time, his migraines have resolved, his neck pain has decreased almost completely, and we have succeeded in creating proper curvature to the lower part of his neck. This is an interim evaluation — there is more correction ahead — but the direction is clear on the film and in how he feels.

Because of the results so far, he has begun to wean himself off of the medications he had been prescribed, the ones that had not been helping him, and so far he has not had a return of his migraines. That decision was his to make with his own prescribing doctor. My work was the spine.

What I See in People Who Work Bent Over a Screen

His case is a DJ's, but the pattern is everywhere. Anyone who spends the day with their head forward and down — over a laptop, a phone, a workbench, a steering wheel — is loading the neck the same way he was. The early signs are small and easy to ignore: a neck that is stiff in the morning, tension at the base of the skull by the end of the day, shoulders that creep toward the ears. Left alone, that load keeps working on the neck for years. The people I see for headaches and migraines are very often the ones who have spent a decade or more with their head in that position.

He came to me worn down by migraines and neck pain that medication had not touched. Three months into correcting his subluxations, he has his days back. There is more correction ahead for his neck, and he is committed to it.

Migraines and Neck Pain Deserve a Structural Look

If you have been through the medication route and the migraines or neck pain keep coming back, the problem may be structural. Come in for a lateral cervical X-ray analysis and find out what your own neck curve looks like.

Schedule a Structural Evaluation

Or call us at (561) 795-3156

Have you ever had your spine checked for subluxation?