Traditional Chinese Medicine Home Cures: Headaches
According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, when we experience discomfort in our bodies, this is our body’s way of telling us that there is a blockage of blood and energy (“Qi”). Essentially, this pain is your body’s way of requesting you to do something and do what should be done so as to correct what’s causing this blockage. Ultimately, a headache is not different. Here in North America the “go-to” treatment for headaches and other discomfort is the medication cabinet. Here you’ll find an array of painkillers including: Tylenol (acetaminophen), Aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) and Advil (ibuprofen) not to mention the more strong and side-effect prone prescription painkillers. However, ultimately popping a couple of Extra Strength Tylenol each four hours or thereabouts, isn’t really correcting anything. This is just covering up the symptom (pain) and not treating the cause, which might be as easy as say an unhealthy diet.
Most would agree that fixing the problem and eliminating the cause is significantly more advantageous than merely medicating so as to treat the symptoms. Luckily , Chinese Medicine is well equipped with natural remedies that may help treat the cause and avoid the unpleasant complications of many medicines.
Nutrition
This is one of the hands-down most powerful remedies for many problems we would like to treat in our bodies. We’ve all heard the old adage, “you are what you eat.” Well, this is pretty correct. The flow of energy throughout our body is quite closely tied to our diet and food we consume. The foods we eat finish up in our blood and meridians (the paths by which “qi” flows throughout our bodies) in the form of energy. The consumption of healthy foods helps to maintain a good flow of blood and Qi throughout the body and to the head, which helps to eliminate headaches.
Foods to avoid: Wine, cheese, sugar and caffeine.
Home remedy: Consume one cup of fresh carrot juice every 4 hours till your headache subsides.
Vitamins: B-complex vitamins, especially vitamin B6 can be quite effective in treating and alleviating headaches.
Massage
Apply peppermint, fennel, wintergreen, eucalyptus and camphor essential oils to the temples and in a circular motion, massage your forehead softly.
Acupressure
First, find the Valley of Harmony (LI-4) acupoint which is the web found between your trigger finger and your thumb. Now, using your other hand, gradually apply pressure until you begin to feel some soreness. Continue applying pressure for approximately 2 minutes, then do the same on your other hand.
The second acupoint that you are going to desire to locate is Great Yang (Taiyang). This acupoint can be discovered in the indentation of your temples. So as to stimulate this point, you’re going to massage these spots in a circular motion with either the tips of your index fingers or the knuckles of your thumbs.
Now that allergy season is going at full speed and headaches become a common occurrence for plenty of us. I’m hoping you try out some of these home remedies and find some much needed relief!
Rob Green is a contract Vancouver acupuncture, massage therapy and natural medicine blog author.
categories: headaches,traditional chinese mediine,acupressure,massage therapy,nutrition,alternative health