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Acupuncture for headaches
Getting back to a clear head
Acupuncture for headaches and migraines can be a big help, and of course they're no fun at all to have! Chinese medicine takes a very individual and holistic approach, so Jessica's diagnostic approach will consider many different aspects of your headaches, such as where the pain occurs, whether it is dull or sharp, whether it is worse at certain times of day, worse with stress, worse in different weather conditions, worse with shoulder tension, and so on, in order to reach a fully individualised diagnosis and treatment plan.
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Case study |
"I decided to have acupuncture to try to relieve pain and stiffness in my neck and upper back. This had been a persistent problem for years but had become particularly bad at that time resulting in almost constant headaches. As well, my sinuses were sore - the cold, damp London air in the winter doesn't help! - and nothing seemed to relieve that either. I was surprised at what a difference just one acupuncture treatment made and after a few treatments, both problems had eased and neither has bothered me much since." A PA in her 30s
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Research |
A 2003 report by the World Health Organisation (WHO)(1) found that headaches are one of the conditions "for which acupuncture has been proved - through controlled trials - to be an effective treatment".
A 2005 German study on acupuncture for tension headaches found that nearly half of those receiving full acupuncture treatments experienced at least 50% fewer headaches, compared to only 4% of the control group, see article in the British Medical Journal(2).
UK research in 2004 looking at acupuncture for people suffering with chronic headaches found they experienced 22 fewer headache days per year, see BBC article(3).
Meanwhile a review(4) by the British Medical Journal described acupuncture as "very safe" when practiced by an appropriately-qualified practitioner.
The modern evidence base for acupuncture is incomplete, and this is true for a great many areas of conventional medicine too. The Clinical Evidence website of the British Medical Journal tells us that of the 2,500 conventional medical treatments their databases cover, 46% are of unknown effectiveness (as at October 2009)(5).
Jessica continues to witness the benefits of acupuncture for many people in her work, utilising the knowledge and practice of Chinese medicine built up over thousands of years. She's happy that more and more modern scientific research is being done into acupuncture, helping to bring it to a wider audience.
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Different types of headaches
Tension-based headaches are viewed in Chinese medicine as the result of stagnation, often from stress. You may also have muscular tension in the neck, shoulders, upper back or jaw, and all your symptoms may all worsen when you spend hours (and years!) working at a computer.
Dull headaches are diagnosed as symptoms of deficiency in Chinese medicine. You may find they come on when you're tired, towards the end of the day, or after your period when your blood is depleted, for example. Acupuncture to strengthen your blood and constitution can often help with these headaches.
Or your head may feel 'fogged-up', 'full of cotton wool' or 'like thinking through treacle.' These headaches can often strike after lunch, and be combined with that sleeeeeeepy feeling! Acupuncture to clear the head can really help. Jessica may also review with you whether there are dietary changes that might help.
And finally, the worst of the bunch, migraines. Blinding headaches, visual disturbances, light sensitivity, nausea, vomiting, the works. Generally these are seen as coming from the Liver in Chinese medicine, and they often respond well to treatment to rebalance that organ.
Contact Jessica
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Other conditions
Acupuncture can help with a wide range of health problems, click below to find out more:
Detailed references
(1) http://www.acupuncture-schools.us/national-institute-health-nih-acupuncture.cfm, referring to World Health Organisation (2002). Acupuncture: Review and Analysis of Reports on Controlled Clinical Trial, see http://apps.who.int/bookorders/anglais/detart1.jsp?sesslan=1&codlan=1&codcol=93&codcch=196
(2) Melchart, Dieter (2005). Acupuncture in patients with tension-type headache: randomised controlled trial. British Medical Journal, doi: 10.1136/bmj.38512.405440.8F, see http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/bmj.38512.405440.8Fv1
(3) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3506400.stm, referring to an article in the British Medical Journal.
(4) Rampes (2001). The safety of acupuncture. British Medical Journal 2001;323(7311):467 (1 September), doi:10.1136/bmj.323.7311.467, see http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/extract/323/7311/467
(5) From the 'About Us' area of the Clinical Evidence BMJ website, page titled 'How much do we know', http://clinicalevidence.bmj.com/ceweb/about/knowledge.jsp. Extract at Oct 2009: "So what can Clinical Evidence tell us about the state of our current knowledge? What proportion of commonly used treatments are supported by good evidence, what proportion should not be used or used only with caution, and how big are the gaps in our knowledge? Of around 2500 treatments covered 13% are rated as beneficial, 23% likely to be beneficial, 8% as trade off between benefits and harms, 6% unlikely to be beneficial, 4% likely to be ineffective or harmful, and 46%, the largest proportion, as unknown effectiveness"
© Jessica Kennedy 2005-09, all rights reserved