ACUPUNCTURE FOR MIGRAINE

A migraine is a headache that can cause severe throbbing pain or a pulsing sensation, usually on one side of the head. It's often accompanied by nausea, vomiting, and extreme sensitivity to light and sound. Migraine attacks can last for hours to days, and the pain can be so severe that it interferes with your daily activities.

For some people, a warning symptom known as an aura occurs before or with the headache. An aura can include visual disturbances, such as flashes of light or blind spots, or other disturbances, such as tingling on one side of the face or in an arm or leg and difficulty speaking.

Examples of migraine auras include:

  • Visual phenomena, such as seeing various shapes, bright spots or flashes of light

  • Vision loss

  • Pins and needles sensations in an arm or leg

  • Weakness or numbness in the face or one side of the body

  • Difficulty speaking

HOW DOES TCM HELP WITH THIS ISSUE?

From a TCM perspective, migraine is mainly due to invasion of wind and fire that cause meridian obstructions, and disturb the flow of blood and qi in the head. Also, liver dysfunction and its pertaining meridian have played important roles in the development process. TCM treatment for migraine aims to calm the liver, dispel the pathogens and unblock the meridians. The treatment plan should be individualized according to specific disharmony patterns. Headache sufferers sometimes describe that they had a heavy feeling in the head, like the head being covered or put on heavy objects. This feeling is commonly seen in tension headache, headache of cervical origin or headaches due to functional disorders. TCM holds that dampness is the most common contributing factor for a heavy head feeling. As dampness pathogens are heavy and turbid in natures, they tend to disturb the movement of qi and lead to a sluggish flow of the meridians. Others disharmonies such as stagnation of the liver, dysfunction of the middle burner and improper ascending of lucid yang can also result in a heavy head feeling.

TESTIMONIAL

I have suffered from migraines and headaches for over 20 years. I have seen the top neurologists and headache specialists in Denver. After experiencing terrible results with treatments ranging from Topamax to Maxalt, I have finally found the treatment that has taken me down from 11 pain scale on a scale of 1-10 to 0… I am headache free for the first time in years. It took only three visits to Dr. Zhang to achieve a pain-free existence. I am so grateful! Kelly- Dec 2010