Headaches and Migraines

How Chinese Medicine Looks at Headaches

Typical migraine symptoms include one-sided, throbbing or pulsating pain that is worse with activity, often with nausea or sensitivity to light and noise. Common triggers include stress, fatigue, poor sleep, menstruation and weather changes. Not everyone has all of these symptoms, and practitioners of Chinese medicine use these differences to guide treatment.

Joshua generally sorts headaches into three types based on how the pain feels:

• Radiating, pulsating or throbbing pain, often on one side of the head, is usually related to hyperactivity of the nervous system. Chinese medicine describes this as too much "Yang" energy stuck in the head, and it tends to get worse with stress or poor sleep.
• Pain that stays fixed in one spot is related to poor blood circulation through the vessels that feed the head.
• Pain that feels heavy or cloudy, like a wet towel wrapped around the head, is linked to sluggish lymphatic drainage, which Chinese medicine calls "dampness."

The location of the pain also matters. Headaches at the temples or above the eyes follow the Gallbladder meridian, headaches along the top of the head follow the Urinary Bladder meridian, and pain below the eyes and along the nose relates to the Stomach and Large Intestine meridians. These names describe pathways on the body and do not mean anything is wrong with those organs.

How Joshua Treats Headaches

Treatment depends on the type of headache. For stress-related headaches, Joshua uses acupuncture points and herbs that calm the nervous system. For fixed pain, he chooses points and herbs that increase blood flow to the area. For heavy headaches, treatment focuses on moving fluid through the lymphatic system. Because the meridians run the length of the body, points on the hands, arms or legs can be used to treat the head, so needles do not always need to be placed in the head itself.

Joshua also checks the neck and shoulders for knotted, tender muscles, since muscle spasm in these areas can send pain into the head. Many patients find that acupuncture also helps them manage stress, which is a common headache trigger.

Self-Care Tips

• Start the day with a protein-rich breakfast and have a snack with protein every two to three hours to keep blood sugar steady. Avoid bread, baked goods and other simple carbohydrates between meals.
• Relax your jaw by pressing on the tight spot in the center of the jaw muscle for about a minute a day while breathing deeply.
• Gently stretch your neck and jaw muscles, since a lot of stress is stored in these areas.