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Don’t Let Headaches Interfere With Your Life…Chinese Medicine Can Help!
Did you know that more people today complain about headaches than any other type of ailment? There are approximately 45 million Americans suffering from chronic headaches each year, or about one in every six people, according to IHateHeadaches.org, and some of your choice painkillers may actually be triggering MORE headaches (these are known as “rebound headaches,” but we’ll get to those later).
This month, June, is National Headache Awareness Month, and with headaches mild to severe running rampant across the country, it seems appropriate to look into the different types of headaches that are plaguing people and explore some Chinese medicine treatments that can help.
First key to recognize: not all headaches are the same. Therefore, one treatment method may not be right for treating all types of headaches. There are five main types of headaches classified in Western medicine: Tension headaches, Cluster headaches, Sinus headaches, Rebound headaches, and Migraine headaches.
In Oriental medicine (OM), these classifications don’t exist as much, but instead each individual is diagnosed by what “channel” or “organ” pathology is being affected and thereby causing the headache, according to Dr. Greg Sperber, Pacific College of Oriental Medicine director of clinical services. In OM, a headache has two parts: the root and the branch. The root is whatever is causing the headache, and the branch is the pain itself. Oriental medicine works to treat both the root and the branch, so the result is more long-term, instead of just temporarily relieving the pain.
