Headaches
Is acupuncture an effective treatment for migraines and other types of headache? “Yes, indeed” is the confident answer of acupuncture practitioners around the world. Every day, headache sufferers come to acupuncture clinics and find relief for their symptoms. For people who have been plagued by headaches for years, this relief comes as a gift from one of the most ancient healing traditions in the world. Cranial sacral therapy is another valid modality for treating and averting headaches.
The goal of both conventional Western medicine and traditional Chinese medicine in the case of headaches is to relieve pain and enable people to function well in their lives. But while the ultimate goal is the same, the diagnostic paradigm and treatment modalities of these two types of medicine are fundamentally different.
Everyone has experienced a headache at some point. The most common types of chronic headaches are tension headaches, migraines and sinus headaches. Each type presents with mild to severe pain associated with other symptoms such as muscle tension, nausea or facial pressure.
How can Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Acupuncture help my headaches?
In TCM there are many different possible causes for headaches. Diagnosis of the headache takes into account several aspects of a person’s health including sleep, digestion and emotional tendencies such as anger and stress. Information about all of these symptoms can help the acupuncturist differentiate the overall pattern of disharmony causing the headaches. By treating the individual pattern, instead of the diagnosis of headache, the patient will experience healing in many areas of their health including resolution of the headaches.
What Will the Treatments Be Like and How Many Will I Need?
The first appointment will include a detailed medical history interview as well as an acupuncture treatment. The acupuncture points are tailored to the individual patient’s pattern of symptoms. In general when treating headaches, acupuncture needles are inserted in the head and neck but can also be used on the hands, feet, forearms, lower legs and back during each 30- to 40-minute visit. Patients report feeling little or no pain with the needle insertion and usually look forward to the deep sense of relaxation they feel during the treatments.
The number of visits you’ll need usually depends on the severity of your headaches, although patients should start feeling better after a few treatments. After the first visit, the acupuncturist will develop a treatment plan which outlines how often and how many treatments the patient will need. The results of treatment are thought to be cumulative which means that it is worth it to come initially more frequently. Getting treated twice a week for two weeks will establish a healing trend which then may only need to be maintained by weekly or eventually monthly treatments. If you make the commitment to get treated regularly early on, the acupuncture will have a more significant effect and you will need less treatments in the long term.
