Headaches

With headaches and migraines, you often notice a quick result. For acute and chronic complaints, or, for example, due to hormones. With our method, we reduce tension, improve circulation and increase balance in body and mind.

Headaches and migraines are symptoms that are easy to treat with acupuncture. In our practice, we see many people with chronic forms of headache. Our acupuncture treatment works so well because we make a precise diagnosis using Chinese medicine. In addition, acupuncture addresses causes such as stress and muscle tension. As a result, the body and mind relax and relief occurs even faster.

Causes of headaches in Chinese medicine

Every form of pain is related to poor circulation of energy (Qi) and blood. This stagnation can be caused by stress (which causes cramping), fatigue and waste products. This combination causes headaches and migraines to become chronic and is common. In addition to stress and tension, there are also several causes that come from within. With the intake, we will see if that also applies to you, and, if so, what pattern belongs to this according to Chinese medicine. To do this, we base ourselves on the location of your headache and which meridians are associated with it, the 5 phases (or elements) and the balance between Yin and Yang. Examples include:

• Stagnation of Qi and/or Blood
• Liver Qi stagnation
• Deliver Fire
• Headaches due to wastes
• Rebellious energy
• Etc.

Headache symptoms

The course of headache is very different from person to person. As a result, there is also a lot of variation in the additional symptoms. One person gets rid of it in the morning or afternoon, the other walks in pain for days on end. For still other people, the pain is so crippling that all they can do is lie on the bed in a dark room. Here are a few common symptoms:

• Vertigo
• Pressing, aching, throbbing, or stinging pain
• Feeling like a band around your head
• Light sensitivity or flashes of light
• Nausea, vomiting
• Tiredness
• Pain radiating to the shoulder or arm
• See spots or blurred vision
• Heavy head

With chronic complaints, fatigue always comes into play. Fatigue also causes symptoms to intensify and that the body has less strength to repair itself.

Types of headache

Tension headache

A high workload and stress can cause headaches. In addition, the workload and tension increase fatigue, so we can have less and less.

A tense posture and high breathing cause the shoulders (pulled up) and neck to cramp. If it lasts a long time, this can give you a headache. Often, people with stress symptoms also suffer from jaw tension or teeth grinding. The headache then spreads to the face, jaws and/or temples. Typical stress headaches can occur on the forehead, temples, back of the head, neck, or feel like a band around the head.

Headaches can be associated with increased blood pressure, often in combination with tension, stress, or an overactive nervous system. With acupuncture, we focus on reducing tension, calming the body and balancing blood pressure. This helps to relieve headache symptoms and bring the body back into balance. Also take a look at our page for stress and relaxation.

Headaches due to neck pain

Headaches due to neck pain, or cervicogenic headache, are often on one side of the head. People also often suffer from movement restrictions: being unable to look left or right. Participating in traffic, or working, can therefore be very difficult. If you suffer from both neck and headache, it is good to let you know during your treatment. It is important to address both complaints.

Stress is a major cause of neck headaches, due to the associated cramping. Often, there can also be symptoms of radiation to the shoulder and arm on the same side. Also check out our page about neck pain.

Headaches after exercise

Fatigue combined with exercise can lead to headaches. Exercise headaches can also be caused by a combination of exercising too intensively and drinking too little. A simple solution is to dose the effort so that the pain symptoms do not occur. Will the pain remain unabated? Then it may be that the body is too tired and needs to strengthen. With acupuncture, we then help increase your energy level, so that pain symptoms occur less quickly.

Cluster headache

Cluster headache causes intense, throbbing pain behind or around drying. This pain can occur in episodes that occur by weeks or months. Or the pain is chronic, with continuous problems to a greater or lesser extent.

In Chinese medicine, there is a clear relationship between pain and blood, and between blood and the eyes. We use these relationships to apply effective acupuncture points.

Migraines

Migraine is an intense type of headache. And may be accompanied by nausea, dizziness, and even vomiting. The pain lasts 1 to a few days, is usually on one side and can be throbbing. There may also be photosensitivity or hypersensitivity to sounds. Causes can be hormonal, too many stimuli, or intense tiredness. But people can also react incorrectly to certain foods.

Migraine can be caused by both vasodilation and vasoconstriction. And acupuncture has a balancing effect on blood flow, making it an ideal solution for migraine symptoms.

In our experience, bowel problems can also cause migraines. The relationship then lies in waste products that go through the intestinal wall. And therefore cause problems elsewhere in the body. We discuss your health extensively during an intake so that we treat cause and effect properly.

Read more about research into migraine acupuncture in our blog.

Headaches or migraines during menstruation

Hormonal headache is characterized by a rhythm. For example, headaches or migraines can occur every month around ovulation, or before/during menstruation. Often, this headache is one-sided, intense and throbbing.

The balance method that we use is an excellent fit for hormonal complaints. To do this, the entire body is brought into balance. Women may also experience more headaches during their pregnancy. For that, also check out our page about hormonal health.

Acupuncture treatment for headache

Headaches and migraines are treated with medication as standard. But if the symptoms are chronic, or if there are side effects, it is good to look for a natural alternative. You can reduce medication together with your treating doctor. But at the same time (or before then), you can come to us to reduce your symptoms based on acupuncture.

Balance method

With the balance method, we provide balance for the whole body. In addition, we always work on rest and relaxation so that the complaints decrease so quickly.

Ear acupuncture

Ear acupuncture or auriculotherapy is a specific form of acupuncture. We use the needles in the ear for pain symptoms. But in our treatment, they mainly help you relax. With these reflex points, we ensure that the body comes into a state of rest and recovery.‍

Acupressure for headache

You can also reduce headaches yourself with acupressure pressure points. You then simply press your fingers on an acupuncture point. The video below shows you exactly where and how to do that:

Treating headache with herbs

Many pain symptoms will recover with acupuncture. Sometimes pain symptoms are persistent, intense or complex. Herbal therapy then offers many benefits and can also be combined with acupuncture. Because you take herbs daily, the therapy is also stronger and better suited for complaints that are very intense. Another advantage is that complex pain symptoms often involve reduced circulation of blood, energy and waste products. All these factors hamper recovery and herbs can all address and dissolve them from within.

Finally: herbs also help strengthen the body and rebuild strength very well. If the body, or part of it, is too weak, this also leads to pain.

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Information about the various symptoms comes from all about headaches.