Johal Health Centre

Headaches and Traditional Chinese Medicine

Is acupuncture an effective treatment for migraines and other types of headache? "Yes, indeed," is the confident answer of acupuncture practitioners around the world. Every day, headache sufferers come to acupuncture clinics in North America and China and find relief for their symptoms. For people who have been plagued by headaches for years, this relief comes as a gift from one of the most ancient healing traditions in the world. Chinese herbal medicine is another valid modality for treating and averting headaches. The use of traditional Chinese herbs to treat headaches is just beginning to be appreciated by North American patients.

Acupuncture for Headaches

Acupuncture is not only effective for migraine headaches, but also works very well with tension headaches, cluster headaches, post-traumatic headaches, and disease-related headaches that might be due to sinus problems, TMJ, stroke, high blood pressure, or sleeping disorders. The greatest advantage of acupuncture over Western medicine is that it does no harm. Unlike synthetic drugs and surgery, acupuncture has virtually no side effects. Acupuncture, as an effective treatment modality, was applied to headaches from the earliest beginnings of traditional Chinese medicine. Traditional Chinese medicine has a very coherent, consistent and philosophically-based framework for headache etiology, physiology, diagnosis, and treatment strategy.

It is not possible, in an article of this length, to explain the theory of traditional Chinese medicine in detail. The key concepts of Yin and Yang, and vital energy (Chi) are important, as well as an understanding of the meridian system. Yang energy tends to go upwards and outwards. All the body’s Yang meridians meet in the head, and they facilitate the flow of Blood and Chi into the head. A clear mind and pain-free head depend on having a sufficiency of Chi and Blood flow, well-functioning internal organs, and a correct rising and falling of Yin and Yang energy.

There are a number of conditions, patterns, or dysfunctions that can cause headaches. The most common are: a deficiency of Chi, which prevents Chi and Yang from circulating properly; a deficiency of Blood, so that the meridians aren’t properly nourished, and insufficient Blood is circulating to the head; a blockage of the meridians by external pathogenic factors. Acupuncture treatment can harmonize the organs, balance Yin and Yang, tonify Chi and Blood, and clear blocked meridians.

Now that acupuncture has come into wider use in North America, both patients and professionals are asking questions about how acupuncture works in a modern, scientific sense. What are the mechanisms? Is there any scientific evidence that supports the effectiveness of acupuncture? There have been a number of scientific studies and clinical trials since the 1970s, and these have tended to substantiate the ancient theories of traditional Chinese medicine. Researchers and scientists now believe that acupuncture can bring about many biochemical changes in the body.

Chinese Herbal Medicine for Headaches

Although headaches may be caused by different triggers, occur in different locations and at different times, Chinese medicine practitioners differentiate groups of symptoms into a specific pattern, and then treat that pattern as it manifests in each individual patient. Each pattern is described in terms of the type of pain experienced, general body conditions, appearance of the patient’s tongue, and palpation of the patient’s pulse. A headache pattern may be caused by external effects, such as chemicals, weather, and other environmental factors; or by internal imbalances, such as a Blood Deficiency or Kidney Deficiency. The following section lists the most commonly-encountered headache patterns, with characteristic symptoms, and also gives the Chinese herbs that are used to treat each pattern.

Wind Cold Pattern. Symptoms include: sporadic pain, stiff, aching shoulders; an aversion to cold temperatures; aggravation of the condition by wind; absence of thirst; a thin-white tongue coating; and a floating-tight pulse. Leading herbs for this pattern include ligustici wallichii (chuan xiong), schizonepetae (jing jie), and ledebouriellae (fang feng).

Wind Heat Pattern. Symptoms include: a painfully-swollen sensation in the head; severe, "splitting" pain; fever, or an aversion to warm temperatures; red face; red eyes; thirst; constipation; dark-colored urine; a red tongue body with a yellow tongue coating; and a floating-rapid pulse. Top herbs for this pattern include ligustici wallichii (chuan xiong), actractylodis (bai zhi), and chrysanthemum (ju hua).

Wind Dampness Pattern. Symptoms include: heavy-feeling pain; a "muzzy," or confused feeling; a feeling of heaviness in the whole body; chest congestion; aggravation of symptoms by damp weather; difficult urination; loose bowels; a sticky-white tongue coating; and a soggy pulse. Useful herbs for this condition are notoptergii (qiang huo), duhuo radix (du huo), and ligustici wallichii (chuan xiong).

Liver Yang Pattern. Emotional disturbance (especially feelings of anger) is the primary origin of this pattern. Symptoms of the pattern include: pain with dizziness; anxiety; anger; insomnia; hypochondriac (under the ribcage) pain; red face; a bitter taste in the mouth; a thin-yellow tongue coating; and a wiry-strong pulse. Top herbs for this pattern include gastrodiae elatae (tian ma), and uncariae (gou teng).

Kidney Deficiency Pattern. General weakness is the basic cause of this pattern. Symptoms include: low-level pain with a feeling of "emptiness"; dizziness; sore back; fatigue; spontaneous seminal emissions (in men), or abnormal vaginal discharge (for women); ringing in the ears; sleeplessness; red tongue; and a thin-weak pulse. The leading herbs include rehmannia (shu di huang), corni officinialis (shan zhu yu), dioscoreae (shan yao), and lycii chinensis (gou qi zi).

Blood Deficiency Pattern. Chronic illness or loss of blood is the cause of this pattern. Symptoms include: pain with dizziness; heart palpitations; fatigue; pale complexion; a pale tongue body with a thin-white tongue coating; and a thin-weak pulse. Leading herbs include angelica sinensis (dang gui), paeoniae lactiflorae (bai shao), rhemannia (sheng di huang), and ligustici wallichii (chuan xiong).

Blood Stagnation Pattern. Symptoms include: chronic pain; pain in a fixed location; sharp pain, such as pain from a head injury; a purple tongue body with a thin-white tongue coating; and a thin or thin-choppy pulse. Top herbs for this pattern include persicae (tao ren), carthami tinctorii (hong hua), and paeoniae rubra (chi shao).

Phlegm Retention Pattern. Chronic over-weight or the habitual consumption of sweet and fatty foods are the main cause of this pattern. Symptoms include: dull head pain with a feeling of heaviness and/or muzziness; a sensation of fullness and oppression of the chest; a feeling of nausea and phlegm retention in the throat; a white-sticky tongue coating; and a slippery or wiry-slippery pulse. Herbs for this pattern include pinelliae (ban xia), citri reticulatae (chen pi), and atractylodis (bai zhu).

When a headache sufferer considers the treatment options available, he or she should remember that acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine provide a safe, drug-free treatment that is stable over time and has no adverse side effects.

References:

Yoga poses for headaches:

Please click on the link to be directed to a list of yoga exercises designed for the treatment of headaches.