Is acupuncture useful for headaches?

In life, many people suffer from headaches. We all know that the causes of headaches are very complicated. If a headache occurs, it will not only affect our normal work, but may also affect our normal life. Many people want to use traditional Chinese medicine acupuncture to relieve pain when they have a headache. In fact, acupuncture is effective for headaches, but headaches need to be treated slowly, and many people tend to give up halfway during treatment.

1. Can acupuncture be used to treat headaches?

Headaches can generally be treated with acupuncture at the main acupoints: Baihui, Fengchi, and Taiyang. Hyperactivity of liver yang causes headache, dizziness, irritability, restless sleep, red face and bitter taste in the mouth; red tongue with yellow coating, and rapid and stringy pulse. Acupuncture can be used on Taichong and Yanglingquan. Headache, dizziness, chest fullness and stuffiness, vomiting and sputum; greasy white tongue coating, slippery pulse, can be treated with acupuncture on Touwei, Zhongwan and Fenglong.

Headache and emptiness, accompanied by dizziness, back pain and weakness, fatigue, tinnitus and insomnia; red tongue with little coating, and weak and thready pulse can be treated with acupuncture at Naokong, Shenshu, Xuanzhong and Taixi. The headache persists, worse when tired; accompanied by palpitations, fatigue, sallow complexion, and loss of appetite; the tongue is pale with white coating, and the pulse is thready and weak. Acupuncture is used on the Xinshu, Pishu, Zusanli, and Sanyinjiao points. The headache does not heal for a long time, the pain is fixed and feels like being pricked by a needle; the tongue is dark purple or has ecchymosis, and the pulse is thin and astringent or thin and stringy. Acupuncture is used on Hegu, Sanyinjiao, Xuehai, and Weizhong.

2. What causes headaches?

2.1. Primary headache: including migraine, tension headache, cluster headache, etc.;

2.2. Secondary headache: including headaches caused by head and neck trauma, vascular factors of the cranio-cervical region, non-vascular diseases in the brain, infection, drug withdrawal, mental factors, etc.; headaches caused by cranial neuralgia, central and primary facial pain, and other types of headaches caused by other facial structure lesions.

Common brain infections that cause headaches include meningitis, meningoencephalitis, encephalitis, brain abscess, and intracranial parasitic infections (such as cysticercosis and hydatid cysts). Acute infections such as influenza, pneumonia and other diseases. Vascular diseases: subarachnoid hemorrhage, cerebral hemorrhage, cerebral thrombosis, cerebral embolism, hypertensive encephalopathy, cerebral ischemia, cerebral vascular malformations, etc. Space-occupying lesions; headaches caused by increased intracranial pressure due to brain tumors, intracranial metastatic cancer, inflammatory demyelinating pseudotumors, etc. Space-occupying lesions: Headache caused by increased intracranial pressure due to brain tumors, intracranial metastatic cancer, inflammatory demyelinating pseudotumors, etc. Headaches during menstruation and menopause. Neurotic somatization disorder and hysterical headache.