Headaches & Migranes.
Headaches and migraines are often treated with acupuncture and or massage and even Chinese herbs. This 24 week clinical trial published in JAMA Internal Medicine April 2017 found that acupuncture significantly decreased the frequency of migraines in the 249 participants studied.
While these studies are useful reference, individuals with headaches and migraines are better understood when considering stress, appetite, thirst, posture, trauma, blood pressure or premenstrual syndrome.
In many cases, headaches that have often been treated unsuccessfully in the past, begin to improve with Chinese Medicine’s holistic approach. For example, the underlying pattern could be any one or combination of the following elements: Wood constraint, dampened digestive fire, excess heat in Yang Ming meridians, ascending Yang, depleted body fluids, dampness and phlegm clouding the mind or a lingering cold or flu.
There are even different herbs added based on the location of the headaches such as: frontal (Bai Zhi), temples (Chuan Xiong), vertex (Gao Ben), occiput (Qiang Huo) and when involving the neck (Ge Gen).
Each presentation is treated in a unique way and herbs are chosen based on these individual experiences and nuances.