Understanding Headaches

Not all headaches feel the same, and there can be a lot more to a headache than simply where it hurts.

When a headache happens, it can be helpful to pay attention to the details. When does it happen? Where do you feel it? What does it feel like? What seems to bring it on, and what makes it better or worse?

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, these details are part of the bigger picture. Instead of looking only at the pain, we look at the pattern around it and ask what else might be going on.

During an assessment, we may consider things like:

🕒 When does it usually happen?

📍 Where do you feel the pain?

⚡ What does it feel like? Dull, heavy, throbbing, sharp, tight?

🌡️ What makes it better or worse?

😴 What else is happening around the same time? Changes in sleep, stress, hormones, digestion, fatigue or muscle tension?

These details may seem small, but together they can give us a much better picture of your particular headache pattern.

This is one of the things I appreciate about Traditional Chinese Medicine. The person experiencing the headache matters just as much as the headache itself.

Acupuncture may be used as part of an individualized approach to supporting headache care, based on the person's overall pattern and needs.

In the next post, we'll look more closely at where headaches show up and what that location may tell us from a Traditional Chinese Medicine perspective.

Whole Body. Whole Person.

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