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Acupuncture Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine |
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The Traditional & Natural Ways to Restore and Balance Your Body and Mind |
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| Headaches In a recent report, the BMA (British Medical Association) recognised that acupuncture was an effective treatment for headaches. I commonly treat headaches in the clinic and usually get a lot of success.
Frontal headaches are associated with the Large Intestine and
Stomach channels ( 'Yang Ming' within the diagram). These headaches are
often associated with imbalances in the digestive system. Recently I treated a
19 male patient who had suffered from headaches since he was 13 years old. On
questioning he grew up on a farm and drink a lot of milk. In this case his body
had difficulty digesting the milk, which lead to the production and accumulation
of Damp (mucus) which then obstructed the movement of energy in the Stomach and
large Intestine channels (across the forehead). Dietary changes and a few
sessions of acupuncture soon got rid of his headaches. Migraines Migraines are characterised by an intense throbbing pain that affects either or both sides of the head. Frequently it is felt behind the eyes.
There may be nausea or vomiting and even diarrhoea. Sufferers often experience visual disturbances such as flashing lights, auras or blurred vision. It is not uncommon to see this type of headache at the weekend after working excessively long hours during the week, under pressure. In Chinese medicine this type of headaches is referred to as 'Liver Yang Rising'. Basically, too much energy rises to the head along the Gall Bladder channels and this causes pain. There is an imbalance in the Yin and Yang energies of the body. Normally Yin energy restrains the Yang (it acts as an anchor), however if it is depleted for whatever reason then 'Liver Yang Rising' headaches can happen. This phenomenon of 'Liver Yang Rising' can also occur due to prolonged excessive stress. You maybe interested in reading the section on stress to understand more about this. Acupuncture treatment is aimed at smoothing the course of the energy along the Liver & Gall Bladder channels and balancing the Yin and Yang energies. Often great results are achieved. Normally I would treat this condition once a week unless the migraines were particularly debilitating, in which case more frequent treatment may be necessary until the severity and frequency of the migraines decrease and the patient is better able to cope. |
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There
are many different types of headache in Chinese medicine and they all require
different treatment approaches. If you look at the illustration you will see
that different areas of the head are labelled with different names. These relate
to the different acupuncture channels. For example,
The
areas involved are illustrated on the diagram.