Natural Headache Relief

Traditional Chinese medicine treatments for chronic headaches focus on both symptom relief as well as finding and treating the underlying cause.  The following article will provide you with some self care suggestions as well as a brief understanding of some of the most common headache patterns seen.  
 
Acupuncture is great at treating both chronic and acute headaches!  It's safe, natural, and effective for most types of headache, but there's also some self-help remedies you can try at home until you can get in for an appointment:
 

• Take note of the pattern of your headaches.  Write down what time of day or month you have them, what you’ve been eating previous to the headache, your emotional state, exercise or activity preformed, concurrent symptoms (such as nausea, dizziness, or eye pain) and any other information which might help reveal a pattern to their occurrence.  You may be surprised by what you find.

 

• Stay hydrated!  Do not underestimate the importance of drinking water throughout the day if you have headaches that occur after a long day at work, after doing physical labor or exercise, or after any activity that causes you to sweat.

 

• Improve your body mechanics by adjusting your office chair, keyboard, and the height of your computer screen to facilitate correct posture.  This is especially important if you sit at your computer for work.  Also, make sure you are using the thinnest pillow possible to sleep on.  Large bulky pillows put pressure on the cervical vertebrae of your neck and can contribute to neck pain and headaches.

 

• Do self-acupressure at the points called “the four gates”: Liver 3 & Large Intestine 4.  These points are stimulated bilaterally (on both sides of the body).  Liver 3 can be found on the top of the foot in the space between the metatarsal bones of your big toe and second toe.  Large Intestine 4 can be found on the top of the hand in the web between the thumb and index finger, close to the metacarpal bone of the index finger.  Feel around until you feel the most tender area, then stimulate each point for 5-10 minutes daily and also whenever you feel a headache coming on.   The four gates are used to move qi and blood in the body thus supporting the movement of stuck energy.  See images below from A Manual of Acupuncture by Peter Deadman.

• If your headache manifests as a throbbing pain with heat rising to the head, try this simple remedy: Place your lower body from the waist down (or at least your feet) in a bath of hot water.  Simultaneously apply a damp cloth wrapped around an ice pack to your head at the area of pain and the back of your neck.  This opens up the blood vessels in the lower body while constricting the blood vessels of the head thus regulating blood flow and reducing the pressure in your head.

Common Headache Patterns
For those interested in more specific TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) patterns of headache, I have outlined the 3 most common types below:

LIVER
If the cause of your headaches are due to an imbalance in the Liver system, trigger points are usually found in the trapezius & muscles on the sides of the neck.  The headache will generally be located either at the temples (sometimes on one side of the head only), behind the eyes, or on the top of the head.  These headaches tend to be more splitting or throbbing and a sensation of heat in the upper body is also indicative of this pattern.  Anger or high blood pressure can sometimes trigger a Liver headache.

DIGESTIVE
Patterns associated with the SPLEEN/PANCREAS system can be triggered by food allergies or intolerances, dampness, and sinus congestion (as phlegm can form from poor digestion).  Trigger points are typically located in the face & neck muscles and the pain is generally felt on the forehead or sinuses.  These types of headaches can be triggered after overeating or after eating a rich meal.

KIDNEY/ADRENAL/BLADDER
This pattern includes headaches from external conditions such as exposure to prolonged cold or wind.  In addition, headaches affecting these channels (pathways of energy) can occur when the body is run down, such as after a long illness or stress.  Usually located on the back of the head in the occipital region/base of the skull, these headaches typically cause a dull pain.  Trigger points are found in the trapezius or occipital muscles.  These headaches can come on after working a long day or when fatigued.

In addition, it's possible to have a combination of these patterns happening simultaneously.
           
How Chinese medicine can help
Your observations along with an assessment of your health history and tongue and pulse diagnosis will help determine your particular pattern of headache.  Then specific acupuncture points will be selected to balance the body and shift the underlying mechanism.  Herbal formulas will help facilitate the process by moving blood, anchoring ascending heat, tonifying any underlying weakness, and balancing hormones as needed.  Trigger point therapy can also be helpful to release knots in the muscles of the back, neck & head which may be referring pain to other areas.  A technique called gua sha may also be used to move fresh blood into the muscles and deeper tissues thus clearing any stagnant qi or blood which could be contributing to the pain of headaches. 

If you are interested in receiving acupuncture for chronic headaches or other health concern,
please contact Joy Blais at Blue Buddha Acupuncture Lake Oswego, Oregon.
 
Joy Blais L.Ac. 
(503) 855-9429
website: www.BlueBuddhaAcupuncture.com
email: BlueBuddhaAcupuncture@gmail.com