May 8, 2013

Those who’ve never had a migraine can’t understand. Those who get them know all too well how debilitating they can be.

“People who have migraines can’t function in their normal day-to-day life because it is the type of headache that will totally debilitate them, to be completely bedridden, medicated and nonfunctional,” said Dr. Jeffrey Harris, a dentist who practices in Kennett Township.

Harris, a traditional dentist who practiced for 24 years in Chadds Ford Township, now spends roughly 35 percent of his practice treating people with migraines and other chronic headaches. He said he does it successfully without drugs, needles or pain.

Harris said he moved to treating headaches after taking a course on the subject from a North Carolina dentist.

What he learned, he said, was that all chronic headaches, be they sinus related, menstrual related, tension headaches or full-blown migraines stem from the same root.

“All headache pathways go through the same spot in the brain stem and that’s within the dentists wheelhouse. It’s part of what we treat. All the pain pathways go through the same cervical nucleus in the brain.”

That pathway is sensitive to dental related issues affected by the jaws, jaw muscles and joints that lead to an imbalance of the teeth, something he referred to as “dental related force imbalances.”

Harris explained that nature prefers symmetry when people open and close their mouths and that there should be equal pressure on both sides of the mouth.

“What we find is that when people are out of sync by more than 5 percent left or right, it causes the jaw to come closed on an angle, which pulls on the muscles, which then triggers tension into that cervical nucleus in the brain,” he said.

The result is chronic headaches. He’s talking about people who get headaches daily or four to eight times a month, not someone who gets the occasional headache.

And not everyone who gets chronic headaches has a situation that Harris can address. But about 90 percent are, and those he does treat.

Drugs are not the solution, he said. Whether the medications are prescription or over the counter, they don’t have any long-term positive effect and actually make matters worse, he said.

He said drugs actually have a negative result in that, over time, they make that neural pathway in the brain more sensitive to the impulses that trigger headaches.

“When you medicate, what you’re doing to those cells is turning the volume up, so the cells respond much faster and with more intensity [to the pain impulses]. So the next time you get a headache you need less of the symptom to trigger the effect. The drugs changes the chemistry in the brain stem in a negative way where they amplify the input signals.”

What Harris employs are several modalities. They include manipulation, the type a chiropractor or osteopath might use, electric stimulation, ultra sound and a cold laser. There are also homecare devices for some patients.

The cold laser is used to remove inflammatory issues in muscles of the head and neck. The ultra sound works on inflammation and swelling and the electrical stimulation works to change brain chemistry in an opposite way that drugs change the chemistry.

Harris said the stim unit he gives patients for home use also helps them treat anxiety, depression, and inflammation as well as pain.

He added that there’s nothing new to these modalities, but putting them together with a bite adjustment and a rehabilitative oral appliance is what makes the program successful over the long haul.

“With no needles, no drugs and no pain, we can generally, within 90 days, have you symptom free. This is a long-term solution.”

He said he has the most success with people who can’t listen to music or even get out of a dark room when a migraine strikes.

“We’re giving them their life back,” he said. “There’s real hope to regain quality of life, pain free and symptom free.”

Harris said the treatment is often covered by insurance, but his practice offers financing options whenever it’s not fully covered.

His Migraine Headache Relief Center of Pennsylvania is in the Harris Dental Arts building behind the WSFS (the old Hill’s Seafood site) near Bayard Road and Route 1.

For more information, visit www.headachereliefpa.com or phone 610-388-6789

• Members of the Chadds Ford Business Association got a lesson in potato chip history during the group’s May lunch meeting. Local author Bruce Mowday (see photo) talked about working on his new book, “Life with Flavor,” about Jim Herr, the founder of Pennsylvania-based Herr’s Foods. The business started in 1947 when Herr bought an old potato chip factory for $1,750. Mowday said Herr knew nothing about the business, but turned it into a true Horatio Alger story. “It’s an American success story,” Mowday said, “about a man who started with nothing except a good work ethic.”

• Chadds Ford Township Supervisors’ Chairman Deborah Love is sending out kudos to the Primo Hoagie shop in Keystone Plaza. Love, who works for Crozer-Chester Medical Center, was getting hoagies for Fire Co. 82 of Chester as part of Crozer’s recognition of International Firefighters Day on May 4. Love said that when the folks at the shop learned what the hoagies were for, they gave a 20 percent discount.

• Susan Shelley, a teacher at Unionville High School, has won the Citadel Heart of Learning Award in the high school category.

• Matt Flegal of Kennett Square installs new steps at the steps at the Barns-Brinton House on Route 1 in Pennsbury. The building is one of the several historic properties owned by the Chadds Ford Historical Society.

• There has been a change of location for the next Woodlawn Trustees hearing in Concord Township. The May 14 hearing was moved to Garnet Valley Middle School at 7 p.m.

• To help spread awareness about green living and educate families, children, and the community about sustaining the environment, the Unionville-Chadds Ford Education Foundation presents the first annual Eco Fair, scheduled for Saturday, May 18, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Unionville Elementary School. The event is free and will be held rain or shine. It includes local eco-friendly vendors on-site, educational information from the Chester County Solid Waste Authority, Waste Oil Recyclers, Organic Mechanics, and the Brandywine Valley Association, as well as family fun events and a silent auction. Attendees are encouraged to bring recyclable materials like used paint cans (cans must be at least ¾ full), small pieces of furniture and cabinetry for Habitat for Humanity, cans and plastic water bottles for Trash Talkin’ Ladies, and used cells phones (functional or non-functional) for Cell Phones for Soldiers.

• The Brandywine River Museum will offer free admission on May 18 as part of the Association of Art Museum Directors’ Art Museum Day. Last year, the Brandywine River Museum-along with more than 120 other AAMD member museums across North America, participated in Art Museum Day. The Brandywine River Museum is open daily (except Christmas Day) from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

• Crozer-Keystone Health System will partner with The Power of Pink, Inc., a local non-profit organization, to offer free mammography screenings in May for uninsured and underinsured women. Screening appointments are available May 28, 4:30 to 7 p.m. at Crozer Medical Plaza at Brinton Lake, 300 Evergreen Drive in Glen Mills. To register, call 1-866-5-CK-XRAY (1-866-525-9729). Appointments are limited, so potential patients are advised to sign up as soon as possible.

• The Chadds Ford Business Association is once again is hosting an evening of baseball and fireworks. The July 12 event — a ballgame between the Wilmington Blue Rocks and the Lynchburg Hillcats — benefits the Friends of the Brandywine Battlefield. Game time is 7:05 p.m. Tickets are $20 per person and must be purchased by June 15. This year the impact of your support is doubled. Your contribution will be matched by the Phyllis Recca Foundation.Tickets and tax deduction letter will be mailed by July 1. To buy tickets, go to staging.chaddsfordlive.com/shop

 

 

Meet Shorty, a 6-year-old sweetie who is desperate to fulfill her role as a loving companion. Shorty was surrendered by her previous family because they could not afford her care. At that time, Shorty was in need of a weight loss regimen — with the work of CCSPCA volunteers and staff, Shorty has lost over 20 pounds and is well on her way to a healthier, happier life. Shorty is truly a social butterfly and behaves well with kids of all ages and other animals, but will need a home without other female dogs. If you are able to provide Shorty or any of our other animals here at the shelter a home, visit the Chester County SPCA at 1212 Phoenixville Pike in West Goshen or call 610-692-6113. Shorty’s registration number is 96813690.  To meet some of our other adoptable animals, visit the shelter or log onto www.ccspca.org.  Not quite ready to adopt?  Consider becoming a CCSPCA foster parent – Kitten season is around the corner and CCSPCA needs fosters to raise kittens and mother cats.  Additional information and applications are available online or at the shelter.