Acupuncture
Acupuncture for headaches & migraines
Relieving the tension
How you live your life, the work you do, the stress you are under, the food you eat, are all as important as your symptoms. Stress, work, food, affect your body in subtle yet powerful ways, upsetting the normal flow of ‘energy’ (qi), so causing pain. Research has shown that the primary factors in setting off migraines are tiredness, lack of food or both.
Treating the underlying problem
Acupuncture treatment is designed to tackle the underlying ‘energetic’ disturbances that cause the migraine, as well as the symptoms.
Typically, needles are inserted in the scalp, the neck, the hands and the feet. It is important to identify any predisposing factors, such as diet or stress.
As the symptoms improve, you can begin to take control and manage these predisposing factors so that they have less effect.
Maintaining & restoring balance
Acupuncture is not like taking a painkiller such as Paracetamol, where the medication has no long-term effect on the incidence of migraine.
If acupuncture is applied properly, the headaches can reduce in intensity and frequency over time, usually a period of weeks or months.
Lifestyle changes are important and necessary and will help you to manage your condition and ensure permanent change.
As your symptoms improve, the frequency of treatment can be reduced.
NICE recommends acupuncture
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommends acupuncture treatment for tension headaches in a report published in September 2012 (1). A course of up to 10 acupuncture sessions over five to eight weeks may be considered to help prevent chronic tension-type headaches.
The treatment of chronic headaches with acupuncture has featured in Chinese medical textbooks for over two millennia.
(1) National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (2012). Headaches: Diagnosis and management of headaches in young people and adults. Manchester: NICE.