It is estimated that 24 million Americans suffer migraines. This is an astonishingly large number of people considering that the population of the entire nation is roughly 300 million. In fact, about 40 percent of the cases I treat are for migraines.

Exactly what is a migraine? The Merck Manual defines it a “headache that lasts 4 to 72 hours, is throbbing, is moderate to severe in intensity, is unilateral, becomes worse with exertion, and is associated with nausea, vomiting, or sensitivity to light, sound, or smell.” It is a mysterious, one-sided headache occurring when there is nothing wrong with you structurally. I say “mysterious” because there is no known cause for migraines.

A change in the volume of the blood flow in the scalp and the brain during migraines has been recognized. Some theorize that stress and depression cause a chemical imbalance in the brain. The chemical imbalance then leads to an inflammation of the brain tissue and an increased blood flow to the brain, and it is the resulting increase of pressure in the brain that may cause migraine headaches. Others hypothesize that it may be triggered by estrogen since it often coincides with menstrual cycles and is often diminished after the age of 50 in women. Migraines mostly occur to women, and the similar headaches in men are categorized as cluster headaches, rather than migraines.

I have been told that treating migraines with conventional medicine can be frustrating since there is no known cause for this condition. Patients are usually prescribed beta-blockers, antidepressants, and analgesics. If patients do not respond to any of these, the migraine becomes chronic with no real relief. For this reason, people are looking for alternative treatments of migraines, and one of the popular ones is acupuncture. Even with my limited expertise, I can say that migraines respond to acupuncture very well. In most cases, you are asked to get acupuncture treatment twice a week for three weeks, and the migraines usually diminish during that time. Most patients (women) decide to come back monthly before menstrual periods as a preventative measure and for their general wellbeing.

In Eastern Medicine, migraines are considered to be caused by an imbalance of the Liver and all Bladder channels. Stress and anger cause stagnation of the smooth Qi flow of Liver. The stagnant flow of Qi causes blockage in the Gall Bladder channel. The Gall Bladder channel runs from the eyes to the sides of the head, to the base of the head, the shoulders, the sides of the body, and down the sides of the legs to the fourth toes. I am sure you can picture this Gall Bladder pathway if you picture tight shoulders and temporal headaches when stressed. If you have migraines, try pressing on the sides of the lower legs next to the bone structure. You will find tender spots. These are blockages of the channel; rub those out to relieve migraines.

The liver also stores blood. Women with tendencies towards blood deficiencies often experience headaches before their periods because blood concentrates in the Chong Mai channel in the center of the body to prepare for menstrual cycles, and the liver lacks sufficient blood supply. Lack of blood in the liver causes stagnation of Liver Qi.

Stress universally happens to both sexes. It seems unfair that only women get migraines because of it. Maybe the hidden cause of the migraine is the very fact that women tend to ponder things more deeply than men.