Apr 2, 2025
Here Is A Simple Explanation
We’ve all been there: Tight neck, heavy head, pressure behind the eyes, or that pounding sensation that turns your day upside down.
Most people pop a pill, drink more coffee, or push through the pain...
But what if the real cause isn’t in your head at all?
What if it’s in your neck?
Here’s the deal:
There’s something chiropractors call vertebral subluxation. That’s just a fancy way of saying one or more bones in your spine are slightly out of alignment, and when that happens, it doesn’t just sit there quietly. It starts interfering with how your brain and body communicate.
According to Dr. Christopher Kent’s Four-Dimensional Model of Vertebral Subluxation, these misalignments can trigger a chain reaction in your body that affects everything from your nerves to your muscles to your blood vessels.
Here’s how it breaks down, in simple terms:
Nerve pressure or irritation (Dysautonomia)
The nervous system can’t regulate things properly, and your body starts to feel out of balance, more tension, more physical stress.
Abnormal movement of the spine (Dyskinesia)
Certain vertebrae stop moving the way they’re supposed to, which leads to stiffness, tension, and more strain on surrounding areas.
Muscle tension or imbalance (Myopathology)
Tight muscles pull on your spine, creating more misalignment and more pain, especially around the neck and shoulders.
Inflammation in spinal tissues (Histopathology)
Swelling and irritation can build up in the joints and tissues near the misalignment, putting pressure on nerves and limiting blood flow.
Functional changes in body systems over time (Pathophysiology)
If the interference stays there long enough, it can start to affect the way your body works in general, making headaches more frequent, more intense, and harder to shake off.
So what does this all mean?
If a bone in your neck is out of place, even slightly, it can block the proper flow of both nerve signals and blood flow to your head. Your body tries to compensate by opening up tiny blood vessels (capillaries) in your head, which increases pressure. That’s one of the ways headaches start or get worse.
Why Are So Many People Out of Alignment?
You don’t have to get in a car accident or fall off a ladder to end up with a misalignment. Most of the time, it comes from everyday life.
Sitting for hours in front of a computer
Looking down at your phone all day
Mental and emotional stress that makes your shoulders and neck tighten like a rock
Old injuries that never fully healed
Poor posture, especially while sleeping or driving
It adds up. Slowly. Quietly. Until your body can’t adapt anymore, and it starts to let you know...with a headache.
What a Chiropractic Adjustment Really Does
When I adjust someone’s neck, I’m not trying to crack the joints, I’m restoring proper life flow.
A chiropractic adjustment removes the interference, and the nervous system responds in a positive way.
The muscles let go. The blood flows better. The communication between brain and body clears up.
And the headache? It often begins to fade, because the cause is being corrected, not just covered up.
Your brain is in charge of everything. It’s the CEO of your body. It sends orders down through the spine, out through the nerves, and into every cell.
But if there's static in the line, if the bones are compressing or irritating those nerves, the message doesn’t get through clearly.
And your body? It starts to malfunction.
Tension builds. Blood flow changes. Muscles compensate. Pain shows up.
When we clear the interference, your system reboots.
Not because of the adjustment itself, but because your body finally gets the green light to do what it was built to do best: heal itself.
The Body Is Designed to Heal
Chiropractic doesn’t treat headaches. It removes what’s interfering with your body’s natural ability to heal. It's not about chasing the symptom, it’s about restoring the proper connection.
Because when your brain and body can finally talk to each other again, things start working right.
Headaches fade. Energy returns. The body feels whole again.
Not because of what we added, but because of what we removed.
That’s the difference.
And for many people, that’s the turning point. Yours in Chiropractic, Dr. Jorge Campos, DC
References:
Kent, C. (2011). A Four-Dimensional Model of Vertebral Subluxation. Dynamic Chiropractic. https://dynamicchiropractic.com/article/55080-a-four-dimensional-model-of-vertebral-subluxation
Chaibi, A., et al. (2021). Spinal manipulation for cervicogenic headache. Cephalalgia, 41(4), 395–403.
O'Neill, B., et al. (2019). Chiropractic Management of Chronic Headaches. Global Advances in Health and Medicine, 8.
Stephenson, R.W. (1927). The Chiropractic Textbook. The Palmer School of Chiropractic.