How acupuncture helps with migraines and headaches
Acupuncture for headache is well studied. Clinical guidelines in several countries include it as an option for preventing migraine and tension-type headache, and reviews suggest that a course of acupuncture can reduce how often headaches occur. It works by calming the nervous system’s pain pathways, easing muscle tension in the neck, jaw and scalp, and improving circulation to the head.
We treat during a headache for relief, and between headaches for prevention. Prevention is where the real change happens, which is why we plan care as a course rather than a one-off.
Finding your trigger
Most headaches have a pattern. Tension and posture from desk work. Jaw clenching. Hormonal shifts around your cycle. Poor sleep, skipped meals, dehydration, or specific foods. Your practitioner takes a detailed history and, where it is useful, a posture and gait assessment with the ExBody scan to see whether your neck and shoulders are part of the story. Keeping a simple headache diary for a few weeks helps us see the pattern together.
Beyond the needles
Depending on your pattern, treatment may include cupping or gua sha for the neck and upper back, Chinese herbal medicine, and nutrition guidance around triggers and blood sugar. If your headaches have changed suddenly, come with new symptoms, or have never been evaluated, we will ask you to see your physician first. We work alongside neurologists and primary care, not instead of them.