Acupuncture for Headaches
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In Chinese Medicine, headaches can come from a series of different “patterns”. Patterns are what we use in Chinese medicine to diagnose and treat the body’s ailments and imbalances.
Each type of headache has it’s own unique characteristics, such as location, duration, and quality of pain. These characteristics help assist your licensed acupuncturist to get a better idea of the root cause of the headache in the first place. Some headaches are related to external factors or environments, some are internal imbalances in the body.
It is important to understand what the cause is in Chinese medicine, so we can then treat the root causes of the headache, so that it can also be used as a preventive treatment. Once you understand your body more and learn what are the triggers for headaches, it can provide your Acupuncturist with a lot of information.
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Through a full intake at your initial appointment, Lanna will get an idea of what triggers your headaches, and will work with you to get to the root of the problem. Like all things in Chinese Medicine, you build momentum with each treatment. Acupuncture has a cumulative effect, meaning each treatment builds on the last one. Which is why it is important to come closer together in the initial stages of healing. So it is important to stick with your treatment plan to achieve the best results. Initially, people will notice a reduction in severity and /or frequency with their headaches, and eventually they will go away all together, or be so minimal that it is barely worth mentioning. I do recommend that after getting relief, you continue to come on a maintenance basis to continue the prevention of more headaches coming back.
Some External Factors that can trigger headaches are:
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Alcohol
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Caffeine
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Chocolate
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Sulfides
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Food additives
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Gluten
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Dehydration
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Alcohol
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Medications
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Visual overstimulation
Some Internal Factors that can trigger headaches are:
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Hormones (menstrual cycle)
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Wind/ Sun/ Humidity- weather changes
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Past head trauma
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Lack of sleep/ quality of sleep
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Stress
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Lifestyle changes
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Vitamin and Mineral deficiencies
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