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May 30, 2005
Headache, part XV
It was raining steadily in Chambery. The chiropractor had a portable air conditioner with an exhaust pipe snaked out the window of his office. The waiting room window had been wide open.
He asked me why I'd come back, so I told him my headaches had not gone away. He explained that it might be something not in my spine, but in my skull. He asked me when the headaches start during my runs. They don't start right away, but after a few minutes. I also told him how sometimes running harder makes the headache recede.
He concluded I have -- cannot remember the medical term for it, something like surtension arterielle cranienne -- a problem related to circulation, in that the blood has an easier time going into my head than leaving. As a result the pressure builds and gives me a headache. The reason it would recede at higher heart rates he didn't explain technically, but told me more valves open when the system's working harder, so the pressure could be released by going to the limit. In my experience it's also possible that the pounding and lactic acid you get when pushing hard make everything uncomfortable, so you notice the headache less.
He checked my spine and found it okay. Then he applied various squeezes to my head. That felt quite strange. I tend to imagine the adult skull as completely rigid, but it was evident from what the chiropractor was doing that the skull is slightly elastic.
Now that it's over I feel unusually tired. He said I would very likely be tired this evening and perhaps tomorrow as well. My hope is that the circulation problem is primarily mechanical.
Posted by Mark at May 30, 2005 07:51 PM