If you suffer from headaches and migraines, you can ease your pain without resorting to prescription drugs or over-the-counter medications that often have side effects. Did you know that more people complain about headaches than any other type of ailment? According to IHateHeadaches.org, one is six people suffer from chronic headache and some of your choice in painkiller might actually be triggering more headaches.
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, a headache has two parts: the root and the branch. The root is whatever is causing the headache, and the branch is the pain itself. Chinese medicine works to treat both the root and the branch, so the result is more long-term, instead of just temporarily relieving the pain.
TCM Patterns (different types of migraines and headaches):
– Migraine headache OR blood stagnation: Stabbing pain of fixed location
– Chronic headache
– Headache due to wind: Wind-cold or wind-heat often initiated by changes in weather or temperature
– Headache due to wind damp: Heavy headedness or bag-over-the-head sensation and/or heavy limbs and fatigue which is aggravated by damp, rainy, overcast weather
– Liver fire headache: Headache exacerbated or brought on by anger or stress
– Kidney yin vacuity: Empty hollow pain which might be accompanied with dizziness, tinnitus, fatigue, lower backache, weak knees, tires easy and insomnia
– Qi vacuity: Empty, hollow pain that is exacerbated or brought on by fatigue and overwork
– Blood vacuity: Dull pain which might be accompanied with heart palpitations, dizzy vision, dry eyes, white complexion, dizziness and insomnia
Generally, to be most effective, acupuncture treatments are used in combination with Chinese herbs.