It takes a migraine sufferer to tell you the difference between a ‘bad headache’ and a ‘migraine’.

Most of us get headaches from time to time. A migraine is a headache in which the blood vessels constrict and dilate, releasing inflammatory chemicals into the blood and tissue, which cause painful pulsations.

The pain can be one sided, whole head; typically you will be sensitive to light, noise, odours, blurred vision, nausea, loss of appetite and sometimes have flashing lights or dot in front of your eyes.

Occasionally an aura such as lights surrounding objects may precede a migraine attack and they can last for hours, days to weeks. It even had one patient that had had them for over 2 years.

The mechanism of migraines is not known in western medicine, however it is believed to be a result of increased excitability of the cerebral cortex and abnormal control of pain neurons. But that information doesn’t really help the sufferer.

Migraines & Chinese Medicine

In Chinese medicine, a migraine may be caused by so many pathogenic patterns.

When we diagnose a patient as to the origin and nature of the migraine, we are interested in when it started, what makes it better/worse, the nature of the pain ie, dull, sharp, moving, throbbing etc.

Chinese medicine has its own set of diagnoses, language and theory. The following is a rundown of categories relating to different types of migraines:

Vertex Pain: Often related to liver-blood deficiency causing deficiency and stagnation in the yin channels making it weak and open to tension and wind invasion.

Neck Pain: Tai Yang Bladder channel disorder from wind-cold invasion or kidney deficiency.

Forehead Pain: Yang Ming Stomach-Heat channel stagnation or blood deficiency.

Temporal Pain: Shao Yang Gallbladder and Liver channel stagnation from wind-cold/heat, interior liver and gallbladder fire rising.

These terms are very specific and will sound totally confusing to the reader not familiar to Chinese medical theory. The reason we mention them is to highlight the differentiation of types of migraines and depending on your pattern and where the pain is, we will treat you accordingly.

For example, severe pain on the side of the head often relates to liver and gallbladder function. This does not mean you have a problem with your physical organ, but it means there is an issue along the channel. The channel is explained as follows: Each of the 12 major organs in the body, in Chinese medical theory, are connected by micro current electrical pathways that share and are independent of nerve pathways at different points. These pathways are called meridians. So if the gallbladder is taken as an example, it travels from the gallbladder organ, along a path that goes up the side of the body and circles around the side of the head. When there is a dysfunction in this area, there is pain on the side of the head, usually one-sided.

The cause of such an issue may take many forms. The gallbladder organ can be disrupted by poor diet (too much fatty foods), environmental issues (pollen, food allergies) and even emotions (anger and resentment particularly).

Given this, there is no “one treatment fits all silver bullet” thus, diagnosis and questioning must be thorough.

What Will Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture Do For Me??

We use Chinese herbal medicine and acupuncture together to diagnose your symptoms into patterns and make them easier to deal with. Treatment involves herbal medicine and acupuncture which may take 4 to 10 treatments on average to get symptoms stable. From there, dietary advice and relaxation techniques may also be part of your treatment regime to make sure the migraines don’t come back.

What Can I Do At Home?

Migraines can come from many sources. It is worthwhile getting a thorough check-up from your GP, allergist, neurologist first to rule out serious conditions, food sensitivities or allergens.

I hope you have enjoyed the article and gained a lot from it. Please email or call me if you would like to discuss this condition further.