According to the statistics from NHS, (should you reference) more than 10 million people in the UK suffer from headaches regularly and usually you can treat your headache at home with over-the-counter painkillers. Paracetamol, Codeine etcsimply mask the pain and does not treat the root cause, be it stress, family related problems, work related problems and so on.
Traditional Chinese medicine approaches the headache treatment from an entirely different perspective by treating the root cause rather than the symptom. In fact TCM goes even further by treating the individual’s headache unlike a painkiller which has a ‘blanket’ approach to treat many thousands of people.
In TCM after an individual assessment, the question is asked, “What caused the headache according to Chinese medical theory?
There is a saying :“Where there is an obstruction, there is a pain.”
The cause of a pain in the head is (very) complicated, where other illnesses could be the primary or secondary cause of headache? Cold or Damp or Wind could invade the head and these cause an obstruction which in turn causes pain. Cold, Damp, Wind and Heat are called pathogens and the invasion of these into the body can cause an obstruction and lead to headache. Emotional factors which are recognised in TCM as Liver Yang play a large part in those who suffer from headaches. When you visit a TCM Practitioner they may mention other factors such as kidney essence deficiency, Qi and blood deficiency, phlegm blockage or blood stagnation. Your practitioner will as a matter of course explain these terms to you and the relevance they have to your situation.
Chinese medicine has vast experience spanning 4,000 years in treating headache practically with acupuncture, herbs, Tuina (Chinese style massage) and cupping; which can instantly relieve the pain, further more, with a series of treatments, it also can improve the root cause.
In short,the process of Chinese medical therapies, which include acupuncture, provide a successful treatment for headache by removing the stagnation caused by the invasion of wind, cold, dampness etc. Think of the body as being made up of a network of numerous pathways or waterways, which are called meridians and the practice and effect of acupuncture is to ensure that everything runs smoothly and all blockages are dealt with. In China there is a saying, “However big a pond is, it is a dead pond if the water is still; whilst a stream can be small but everything is alive in it because it is running.” And that quite simply is what TCM will do for you.