Acupuncture for Migraines

Migraine are severe and chronic headaches, which can last for a few hours or up to three to four days. Apart from the throbbing and pulsating pain, which is usually experienced on one side of the head, the affected person may also have symptoms like nausea with or without vomiting, and sensitivity to light and sound. Some people with migraine perceive warning symptoms called auras, which include visual or olfactory experiences like flashes of light and blind spots in vision. It has been observed that women are affected by migraine more than men and may start showing symptoms during childhood, adolescence or in adulthood. The symptoms, severity, and frequency of migraine headaches may vary from one person to another and also from one type of migraine to another. The causes of migraine is still not exactly known but it is believed that genetics and environmental factors play an important role in causing migraines. There are also some triggering factors like consumption of specific foods, weather changes, stress, hormonal changes in women and changes in sleep pattern.

Migraine Treatment

The conventional migraine headache treatment include drugs to provide relief to the symptoms and also to prevent migraine attacks. It includes the recommendation to avoid triggering factors. In case of recurring migraine attacks, abortive medication are prescribed in order to abort an impending migraine attack. Such medications should be taken before the onset of the symptoms, in order to be effective. Most often, it happens that such conventional treatment may not turn out to be effective in preventing migraine attacks. Treatments for migraine is offered by almost all wings of alternative medicine and even herbal medicine is used in treating this condition. Acupuncture, which is one the different types of alternative medicine is found to be effective in treating migraine.

Acupuncture for Migraines

It is a popular therapy, which comes under the umbrella of traditional Chinese medicine. It involves the stimulation of specific points of the body using various techniques. Among these techniques, insertion of hair thin needles into the strategic points in the body is one of the most widely-accepted techniques. These points are positioned along the meridians through which energy flows. As per the theory of acupuncture, any blockage in the free flow of energy through the meridians result in diseases, and this method aims to restore the balanced flow of energy in the body. Acupressure is used in the treatment of various diseases and is said to be very effective in providing relief to people with back pain, high blood pressure and headaches.

How is Migraine Treated with Acupuncture

An acupuncturist starts the process with an initial assessment of the patient's health problem. As the pain may occur on various parts of the head in different people, he has to assert the exact position of the pain in that particular person (like, behind the eye, above the eyebrow or one side of temple) The type of pain is also very important, as it can be a dull pain, a throbbing one or a shooting pain. Once the exact location and nature of the pain is determined, the acupuncturist can find out the area where the flow of energy is blocked, so as to cause migraine headaches. He has to determine the strategic points to be stimulated in order to restore the flow of energy. Some acupuncturists are of the opinion that using needles to stimulate points in the head and the neck may increase the pain, as this process may dilate the already enlarged blood capillaries, resulting in worsening of symptoms. So, they suggest the stimulation of specific points on the arms and legs, that too in a sitting position. Through this method, acupuncture can provide pain relief for migraines. Even though acupuncturists use different techniques to prevent and cure migraines, these techniques are found to be not effective as the ones employed for providing pain relief. Recent studies show that acupuncture is one of the popular method for relief from pain associated with this condition. But the effectiveness of this method in preventing migraine attacks (migraine prophylaxis) or curing migraines is still in question. However, there are people who vouch for the effectiveness of acupuncture for migraine prophylaxis.

Acupuncture for migraines is gaining popularity, as it is considered one of the treatment methods without any side effects. However, make sure to approach a qualified and licensed acupuncturist for treatment.