This Migraine Awareness Week we asked our acupuncturist Amanda Caspari how migraine symptoms are viewed in Chinese Medicine and how acupuncture may help relieve those symptoms.
Understanding Migraine Symptoms From a Chinese Medicine Perspective
In Chinese Medicine one of the factors we look at in diagnosis and treatment is how energy moves in the body. In a migraine energy builds up and shoots to the head. Stress, lack of sleep, poor diet, or strong emotions can cause energy to rise excessively. If it rushes to the head, it may cause the intense throbbing pain felt in migraine, sometimes with nausea, vomiting and visual disturbances. Typically, migraine presents as a one-sided headache.
If your body is out of balance this can make it easier for that built-up energy to spiral upwards. Lack of sleep or skipping meals are common triggers.
When we consider pain in Chinese medicine we look at factors such as – is the pain fixed or does it move? is it better with cold or heat? is it better lying down or with movement? This information allows us to diagnose the source of the pain from a Chinese medicine viewpoint and to formulate a treatment plan including which points we will use.
Choosing the Right Acupuncture Points for Migraine Treatment
We often choose acupuncture points that correspond to channels that run through the head and neck when we consider how to alleviate the symptoms of migraines. The points may be on the head itself but are often elsewhere, for example on the legs or feet as the same channels run from the feet and through the head.
You can see from the picture how many channels run through and around the head and so understanding the actions of the points, whether on the head or elsewhere, and picking the right ones is essential. In all, there are about 370 points on the body to choose from, although there are many that we don’t use often, and certainly, not all are relevant to migraines and headaches.
Speak to Our Acupuncturist Amanda About Your Migraine Symptoms
If you would like to talk to Amanda our acupuncturist about migraines or want to know more about how acupuncture can help you then please call Lymington Chiropractic Clinic on 01590 679560 or call Amanda directly on 07876 343821.