Drugs such as ibuprofen or Paracetamol come to mind when one seeks relief from a headache. However, another much safer option exists for the alleviation of headaches. That is acupuncture.
A unique form of Chinese medicine that has been practiced for over 5,000 years, acupuncture is a powerful healing tradition that has helped treat headaches for as long as acupuncture has existed. More and more headache sufferers have been drawn to this treatment because of its extreme effectiveness in treating headache pain.
Chronic headache sufferers can tell you how very hard it is to deal pain on a frequent and regular basis. Taking care of the pain is not that easy and it usually disrupts your normal daily life.
Talking analgesics that can be bought over-the-counter can help you deal with pain albeit for only a short while. Moreover, when you take these drugs frequently and on a daily basis, you may eventually develop a side effect known as a ‘rebound headache’ wherein no medicine is effective enough to treat it. Because of these reasons, a lot of people suffering from chronic and longstanding headache pains have turned to natural and alternative modalities like acupuncture.
Some people have developed a scary image of acupuncture due to their fear of needles. The needles used in this treatment are exceedingly thin that when they are inserted by a licensed and qualified acupuncturist they do not generate pain at all but instead a slight numbing and tingling sensation that in seconds transforms to feeling of calmness and relaxation. Depending on the type and severity of the condition, the treatment may last for 20 minutes to a full hour.
When considering acupuncture, one should know what the gateway theory is. This theory is based on the belief that the body is only able to experience a certain number of sensations all at once. Once these sensations overload the body, it starts to exclude a number of the sensations. One example of this overload is when you start rubbing an injury. The pain can be muted and the rubbing sensation can be the preponderant sensation over every other sensation (including the pain) that naturally accompanies the injury.
Another example of this theory is when you are bitten by a mosquito and you scratch the bite area. The scratching causes a sensation that relieves the pain and itch. The gateway theory relates to the numbing and pain sensation caused by the insertion needles in the body during a treatment. Oftentimes the acupuncturist will massage the area near the point of insertion in order to lessen the sensation.
Recent studies done in Germany that sought to understand acupuncture’s ability in treating headache pain have shown that it can rival drug therapy in the resolution of headache. In these studies, acupuncture was proven to work for both tension headaches and migraines. These studies were posted in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Acupuncture enthusiasts aver that the therapy is superior to that of drug therapy when it comes to benefits obtained. They also state that acupuncture does not have any side effects at all while side effects are always experienced in drug therapy.
Jamie Catlett is a licensed acupuncturist in Jacksonville, FL, and the founder and clinical director of Jacksonville Acupuncture Clinic.
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