Use Acupuncture For Tension Headaches And Migraines Says NICE

Tension headaches and migraines are affected millions of people in the UK every year. It is one of the main causes for a trip to the GP. About 80% of the population experiences headaches each year and it seems to affect women primarily.

Now, NICE is advising acupuncture to treat tension headaches and migraines, acupuncture being the only prophylactic treatment for tension headaches.

You can listen to fellow migraine sufferers Tina and Chris as to how acupuncture helped them with deal with headaches.

What can you do to help tension headaches and migraines?

1. Apply some cold.  

Wrap a dish towel around an ice pack, a bag of frozen peas, or a cold can of soda.  Apply the cold to the area(s) of pain. This can be the side of your head, around the ears or above your eyes for example.

2. Rest.

If you have a monster headache, don’t even think about trying to work through it.  Go home, lie down, and rest.

3. Stay hydrated.

Drink if possible, however, if nausea is a problem, try sucking on some ice chips.

4. Desensitise.  

Protect yourself from bright lights and loud noises.  Go indoors, close the shades, and turn out the lights.  If you can’t be at home, use sunglasses and a wide brimmed hat to filter the bright light.

5. Relax.  

Deep breathing, visualisation, and meditation may help speed the passing of your symptoms.

6. Use acupressure (aka acupuncture without needles). 

There are 2 acupuncture points you can use to ease off a headache.

- Large Intestine 4: is located on the hand, in the web between the thumb and index finger. It is a great point to alleviate headache and sinus pressure. Apply some gentle pressure (You might feel a bit of an ache with the pressure) for a couple of minutes on each hand or until the headache has started to calm down.

This point is contra-indicated in pregnancy! So don’t use this acupressure point if you think you might be pregnant. You can use the next one instead.

- Du20: is situated at the top of your head, at the crossing point in line between the nose and the top of the ears. Just put your finger at the top (Again you should feel an ache/bruisy feeling under your finger) and let the acupressure do its work.

This is something you can do yourself or even better ask someone else to do it for you.

7. Medicate. 

It would be unrealistic to expect anyone to suffer through a migraine or headache without medication ever.

If you suffer from recurring headaches, it is best to get checked up by your GP. He/she will be best able to advise both on analgesic (Usually paracetamol, ibuprofen, aspirin) and with any prophylactic treatment to avoid the recurring pain. 

8. Check what you can do to prevent headaches

Following the new guidelines, an even better choice would be to contact an acupuncturist to get rid once and for all of your headaches as well as stopping any medication.
You can also look at what triggers your headaches, look at diet etc... For more ideas on what to do, you can also have a look here.



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