Acupuncture for Headaches & Migraines

Acupuncture treatment is recommended by NICE (National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence) to treat tension type headaches and migraines, and that doctors should prescribe it.

So many people suffer from the many types of headache and migraine. There is the dull on-top-of-your-head headache, a tight bad around your temples, a throbbing above your eyes sinus type headache, and a classic one-sided pain accompanied by nausea and photophobia. You may be very unlucky and suffer from more than one type of headache. One in 50 people suffer from headaches, and women are 5 times as likely to have headaches as men.

How can acupuncture help Headaches & Migraines?

Acupuncture can treat the underlying cause of your headache, which may be stress, hormonal irregularity, overwork and exhaustion, or sinus infection. It will also treat the resulting pain causing the headache.

In Chinese medicine there are many differentiations of headaches. The beauty of this medicine is your diagnosis will be specific to your experience and symptoms, so treatment can be tailored to your needs. Your practitioner will discuss with you the type of pain you experience, the onset, where it is located, associated symptoms, lifestyle and diet.

Medical research shows acupuncture can help treat headaches by:

• Reducing swelling and inflammation
• Regulating blood flow
• Stimulating nerve fibres and influence the pain response through the brain and spinal cord
• Releasing pain relieving chemicals and endorphins
• Regulating hormones (if migraines are related to menstrual cycle or menopause)
• Reducing effects of stress on the body and relieve muscle tension in the upper back and neck