How Acupuncture Can Help Your Migraines

Migraines immobilize thousands of people every day. Migraine sufferers know the early stages and often have a prescription to take to help mitigate a full migraine. However, medication doesn’t always help, and many don’t even realize they are suffering from migraines.

What Exactly Is a Migraine?

Migraines are an elevated headache. Throbbing, pulsing and tightness is often felt on one side of your head and typically comes with nausea and blurry vision and last anywhere from four hours to three days.

Why do You Get Migraines?

Well, the science on why and how migraines happen is pretty inconclusive. For many years, it was thought that migraines occur due to constricting blood vessels in the head.

Researchers now believe that migraines are caused due to a neurological disorder that disrupts nerve pathways and brain chemicals.

While migraines might be genetic, there are a lot of environmental factors:

• Changes in humidity or temperature
• Bright or flickering lights
• Light glare and reflection
• Extreme heat and sound
• Intense odors and vapors

How to Treat a Migraine

Many of the 38 million people who suffer from migraines self-medicate with over the counter medications or have prescriptions from their doctors.

Without any clear testing method to determine the severity and cause of migraines, doctors are often left in the dark on exactly what and how much medication to prescribe. There also are not a lot of on-going and preventative measure to take to help reduce the risk.

Acupuncture for Migraines

However, acupuncture has been proven to help those suffering from migraines. There have been a handful of studies to show that after six sessions acupuncture can:

• Halve the frequency of migraines
• Reduce side-effects like nausea
• Reduce pain of migraine

How does acupuncture work? Well, acupuncture is the practice of inserting tiny needles into your skin to remove bad energy blockers like stress and pain. The insertion of these needles increases blood flow and endorphins which reduce pain.

The body has many different pressure points acupuncturists use depending on the types of pain you are experiencing. There are specific points in your hand, feet, neck, and forehead that correspond with migraines.

If you suffer from migraines and are looking for a healthy alternative to medications and one that can offer ongoing, preventative care call us today.