Chinese Medicine for Headaches

Chinese herbal medicinals can alleviate headache symptoms just as effectively as over-the-counter drugs and precription pharmaceuticals, but without the long-term side effects of common analgesics such as Tylenol, Ibuprofen, Naproxen Sodium, and Aspirin. Fast-acting herbs treat occasional headaches, while slower-acting herbs treat chronic headaches and prevent them from re-occurring. However, finding the right herbal formula for your headaches is a tedious process that requires the help of a skilled herbalist. This is because there are many different etiologies for headaches, each causing different types of headaches, and the proper herbal combinations to treat these specific conditions differ according to your particular symptoms and underlying pattern diagnosis.

The location of the headache, for example, makes a difference when herbal medicinals are being precribed, and is useful in determining the proper diagnosis. Pain at the top of the head or behind the eyes is associated with the Liver Meridian in Chinese Medicine; dull pain in these areas that is alleviated by lying down is usually due to a Chinese Medical Pattern referred to as Liver Blood Deficiency, while a sharp pain in these areas is due to a condition called Liver Yang Rising. Both of these require different herbal treatments. Temporal headaches are associated with the Gallbladder Meridian, and often exhibit a sharp or throbbing sensation. These are due to Liver Yang, Fire, or Wind Rising. Dull frontal headaches can be a sign of a Stomach Deficiency Pattern, while sharp frontal headaches indicate a Stomach Heat Pattern. Herbal medicinals would need to supplement the stomach and clear heat, respectively, in order to effectively cure the headache. If frontal headaches occur with a sensation of cloudy thinking or heaviness in the head, it is usually caused by Dampness or Phlegm. In this case, an herbal medicinal can only be effective in treating the headache if herbs are used which specifically clear Dampness and Phlegm out of the head. Yet another cause of frontal headaches is a pathogenic Wind-Cold or Wind-Heat, usually brought on by seasonal or environmental factors. Acute onset of an occiptal headache (pain in the back of the head or neck) is also a sign of a pathogenic factor (such as a cold or flu). Herbal treatment involves expelling the pathogenic factor. Chronic occipital headaches tend to be caused by a deficiency in the energetics of the Kidney, which causes pain on the Bladder Meridian. Chronic headaches affecting the whole head are due to malnourishment of the brain from a Kidney Essence Deficiency. In order to treat these headaches, your herbalist must create a formula that includes herbs that specifically bring nourishment to your brain.

Let's take a look at some of the etiologies for headaches according to Chinese Medical Diagnosis. Click on each one for further information about symptoms and forms of treatment.
1. wind-cold headaches
2. wind-heat headaches
3. wind-dampness headaches
4. liver-yang rising headaches
5. liver-fire headaches
6. liver-wind headaches
7. liver-qi stagnation headaches
8. stagnation of cold in the liver channel headaches
9. dampness headaches
10. turbid phlegm-wind headaches
11. food stagnation headaches
12. stomach heat headaches
13. qi deficiency headaches
14. blood deficiency headaches
15. kidney deficiency headaches
Let's take a look at some of the etiologies for headaches in Western Biomedicine. Click on each one for further information.
1. intracranial inflammatory meningitis
2. non-inflammatory vascular migraine
3. cerebal (sub-arachnoid) hemorrhage
4. cerebral tumor
5. essential hypertension/hypertensive headache
6. secondary hypertension/hypertensive headache
7. sinusitis (sinus infection)
8. otitis (ear infection)
9. glaucoma
10. cervical spondylosis
11. trigeminal neuralgia