An imbalance of female hormones is another factor believed to be related to migraine. In my practice, females with migraine outnumber males. Application of indirect heat using moxibustion, a traditional heat treatment that involves gently burning medicinal herbs over the skin on the lower abdomen, low back, and sacral bone may help balance female hormones.
Significant muscle tension in the neck and upper back is common in people with migraines, so reducing this tension is an important part of migraine prevention. I apply acupuncture needles to points on the patient's body I find to be sensitive or reactive in order to cause an instantaneous increase in blood flow to those tight muscles. A low frequency electrical current (1 Hz) may be attached to the needles, as the slow repetitive muscle twitching further enhances blood flow in the muscle tissue.
Concluding thoughtsMigraine symptoms can often be severe enough to disable the person from daily activities. Treatment and management of migraine is generally more complicated that that of tension headache. A series of treatments using an individually-designed approach to harmonize a person's unique physiological balance is essential for the long term success.
Dr. Tim Tanaka is the director of The Pacific Wellness Institute in Toronto and Visiting Research Fellow at the Tsukuba College of Technology, Department of Acupuncture in Japan. He is a licensed acupuncturist in Japan and has been in practice for over ten years. Dr. Tanaka conducted a research study examining the use of a shallow needle insertion technique for tension-type headache, which was published in the International Journal of Neuroscience.