Attention Migraine and Headache Sufferers !!!
Acupuncture Can Help You...
The pain that headaches and migraines cause can impact every aspect of your life. Acupuncture can offer powerful relief without the side effects that prescription and over-the-counter drugs often include.
Acupuncture and Chinese Botanical Medicine have been used to relieve Headaches and Migraines for thousands of years. And it’s now a widely accepted form of treatment for these same ailments in our modern western society.
Diagnosis with Traditional Chinese Medicine
Traditional Chinese Medicine does not see the cause of migraines or headaches the same for everyone. Instead, it aims to treat the specific symptoms that are unique to each individual using a variety of of techniques such as acupuncture, Chinese botanicals, massage therapy, and stretching and meditation exercises to bring your body back to a place of balance and good health.
Therefore, your diagnosis and treatment will depend on a number of variables: Is the headache behind your eyes and temples? Is it located more on the top of your head? On in the back of your head? When do your headaches occur? At night, morning, or after eating? Do you find that a cold compress or a dark room can alleviate some of the pain? Do you describe the pain as dull and throbbing, or sharp and piercing?
All of these answers are vital to the highly-trained doctor of traditional Chinese medicine to uncover the root cause of your headaches and choose the appropriate acupuncture technique and points. Combined with a thorough diagnosis of your tongue, pulse, skin and face, powerful Chinese botanicals will be appropriately combined to enhance the effect of the acupuncture.
The Acupuncture Treatment
Acupuncture points to treat headaches are located all over the body. During the acupuncture treatment, hair-thin needles will be placed along your legs, arms, shoulders, and perhaps even next to your big toe!
Acupuncture usually creates very little discomfort. In fact, they are so thin that several acupuncture needles can go into the middle of a hypodermic needle that they use at hospitals. Occasionally, there is a brief moment of discomfort as the needle first goes in. But once the needles are in place, most people relax and even fall asleep for the duration of the treatment.
The length, number and frequency of treatments will vary. Typical treatments last about an hour, with about 30-40 minutes of blissful relaxation. With regular visits of once or twice a week, some symptoms are relieved after the first treatment, while more severe or chronic ailments often require multiple treatments.
Studies on Acupuncture and Headaches
Since the early seventies, studies around the globe have suggested that acupuncture is an effective treatment for migraines and headaches. Recent studies show extremely positive results:
In a case study, published in the June 2003 Issue of Medical Acupuncture, doctors found that acupuncture resulted in the resolution or reduction in the frequency and severity of cluster headaches, and a decrease or discontinuation of medications. It was concluded that Acupuncture can be used to provide sustained relief from cluster headaches and to stimulate adrenal cortisol to aid in discontinuing corticosteroids.
A clinical observation, published in a 2002 edition of the Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine, of 50 patient presenting with various types of headaches were treated with scalp acupuncture. The results of this study showed that 98% of patients treated with scalp acupuncture experienced no headaches or only occasional, mild headaches in the six months following care.
In a study published in the November 1999 issue of Cephalalgia, scientists evaluated the effectiveness of acupuncture in the treatment of migraines and recurrent headaches by systematically reviewing 22 randomized controlled trials. A total of 1,042 patients were examined. It was found that headache and migraine sufferers experienced significantly more relief from acupuncture than patients who were administered "sham" acupuncture.
Get started today and feel great again.
To book your first acupuncture treatment at our Ottawa location, simply call us at 613-216-2135 or click here to book online NOW !