Types of Pain in the head

Headache pain generally indicates a blockage of energy flowing. The type of this pain illustrates what causes the Chi (qi) blockage.

• A full and throbbing headache pain indicates that an excess of energy is flowing to the head.
• A dull pain or constant ache indicates that there is an energy deficiency in the head.

Then acupuncture treatment would manipulate the Chi(qi) to respectively either ease the excess energy in the meridian lines or to increase the energy chi flowing through the acupuncture channels relating to the head.

When treating a headache with acupuncture, the individual diagnosis based on TCM principles is vital.

Headaches, Chi blockage in the channels

There are four main common headaches which are related to the body organs:

• Headaches from the bladder channel or meridian line
• Headaches from the stomach channel or meridian line
• Headaches from the gall bladder channel or meridian line
• Headaches from the liver channel or meridian line

The location of a headache indicates the unbalanced channel too as a TCM diagnosis:

• Pain in forehead: In Chinese Medicine, headaches in the forehead indicate a disorder in the energy flow of the Stomach channel. This type of headache may be related to a digestive disorder, or to overeating or food insufficiency.
• Pain behind the Eyes: Pain behind the eyes is often related to migraine. This type of headache indicates a disorder in the Liver meridian line.
• Pain in side(s) of Head: Headache on the temples means a disharmony in the Gall Bladder channel. This type of headache can occur on both sides of the head, or on one side only. It is believed that a headache on the left side is more likely from a lack of energy in the channel, and one on the right side from an excess of energy.
• Pain at the back of the Head: An acute headache at the back of the head, around the occipital bone is more likely an early stage of the common cold. Chronic headache in this area signifies a lack of energy flow in the Kidney and/or Bladder channels.

Patterns of Headaches

Acupuncture treats headaches based on each individual case. Headaches occur with patterns, although they are in different locations and at different times, triggered by a variety of underlying causes. Here we summarised a list of the most commonly-encountered headache patterns.

• Wind Cold Pattern headaches
• Wind Heat Pattern headaches
• Wind Dampness Pattern headaches
• Liver Yang Pattern headaches
• Kidney Deficiency Pattern headaches
• Blood Deficiency Pattern headaches
• Blood Stagnation Pattern headaches
• Phlegm Retention Pattern headaches

1. Breaking down the fatty tissue and improving metabolic processing;
2. Balancing gastro-acid productive levels so that appetite is under control;
3. Regulating the endocrine system so that hormone secretion levels are in good order;
4. Enhancing the body qi flow and improving blood circulation so that the body becomes more energetic.

Understandably, many people who are overweight would like to know the reason for their putting on so much weight, so that they can change their lifestyle such that they can reduce weight.
Here are some factors it might be worth checking:

• Lack of physical exercise and sedentary lifestyle
• Overeating
• Poor nutrition
• Genetic predisposition
• Hormonal imbalances (e.g. hypothyroidism)
• Metabolic disorders, which could be caused or exacerbated by repeated attempts to lose weight
• Eating disorders (such as binge eating)
• Alcoholism
• Stress
• Insufficient or poor-quality sleep
• Psychotropic medication (e.g. olanzapine)
• Smoking cessation and other stimulant withdrawal
• In a cruel twist, insulin dependent diabetes can cause weight gain in some suffers, as opposed to type II diabetes, which mostly comes on as a result of being overweight.

Conditions that may accompany obesity include:

• High cholesterol (including high triglyceride levels)
• Diabetes
• High blood pressure
• Heart disease
• Stroke
• Sleep apnea (episodes when a person stops breathing while asleep)
• Osteoarthritis
• Gallstones

Key points of overweight that acupuncture can work on
As excessive fat accumulates in the body, people who are suffering from overweight (or pre-obesity) and obesity, usually experience symptoms of dizziness, tiredness, lack of strength, laziness during speaking, reduced movement and shortage of breath upon making rapid movements. Some obesity also has a tendency to induce water retention, joint pain, or overeating behaviour because of the disturbance of hormones and the overloading of lower limbs, and this can also lead to increased nervousness. All those symptoms can be explained in traditional Chinese medicine, along with their acupuncture solution.

1. Kidney essential vacuity
The significance of Kidney in terms of Chinese medicine is more complex than simply the kidney organs only. It refers to the reproductive system, adrenal cortex, and bone marrow, which produces red and white blood cells, and which are responsible for antibody production – therefore the immune system must be considered as part of the TCM concept of Kidney.
2. Stomach and spleen imbalance
If we say kidney qi (or chi, life’s energy force) is the natural essence, the stomach and spleen qi will be the postnatal sources of our body energy, blood and body fluid. If the spleen and stomach qi has a deficiency, then our internal body organs and viscera as well as our skin can’t get enough moisture and nutrition and this inexorably leads to an ageing result.
3. Heart Chi (Qi) deficiency
There are 12 meridians which are related to our different body organs. The heart is the dominant organ for blood and vessels and facial complexion. As blood vessels deliver loaded supply to the facial area, the colour and lustre of the complexion usually reflects the sufficiency or insufficiency of the blood supply and heart qi.
4. Lung Chi (Qi) obstruction
Lungs are in charge of qi, breathing, connecting externally with skin and hair. The lung is related to defensive qi, and its function is to distribute the essential nutrients to the skin and hair.
If lung qi is weak and deficient, defensive qi is not dispersed and essential nutrients are not distributed. This causes hypo-activity of the defensive qi as well as rough skin and dry hair.
5. Emotional imbalance
Emotions are mental stimuli that, in extremes, can disturb the mind and spirit and alter the balance of the internal organs and the harmony of qi and blood. These extremes can be caused by a stressful lifestyle. The lack of bodily harmony created can also serve to prolong physical and mental symptoms.
Balancing the interconnected systems of the human body to maintain healthy function is one of the main philosophical concepts that TCM is based on.

Facial acupuncture
Facial acupuncture is not only concerned with treating the face but also treating the whole body. Acupuncture helps to reduce stress, strengthen the stomach and spleen qi and immune system, energising the Kidney qi and harmony Lung qi, soothing Liver qi, and increasing circulation of the blood and lymph and to maintain healthy skin and muscle tone.
Facial acupuncture can also stimulate the body’s natural processes of cell reproduction and growth. Needling facial skin brings about an active production of collagen and the structural protein which holds the skin together and helps keep it tight. Although needling the skin causes short-term injury, this heals readily and is in fact a wakeup call to collagen production.

Using acupuncture to treat chronic back pain is more effective than standard treatments alone, a leading scientific study has found.

Trials involving 638 back pain sufferers have suggested that acupuncture is successful in relieving discomfort, although how it works remains unclear. A “fake” version also produced results, indicating that belief in the therapy may have played a key role in its success.

In the project, known as Spine (stimulating points to investigate needling efficacy), patients were divided into groups to receive standard care alone, with one of two variants of genuine acupuncture or with a placebo.

The simulated acupuncture involved mimicking needle pricks using tooth picks hidden inside guide tubes that did not penetrate the skin. Patients were treated twice a week for three weeks and then weekly for a month. At intervals of eights weeks, six months and a year, the researchers measured back pain symptoms and their impact on quality of life.

Both types of genuine acupuncture — either individually tailored or a standardised treatment — produced a substantial improvement in symptoms and the ability of patients to cope with their condition at eight weeks. By contrast, patients on standard care were only slightly better. The beneficial effects lasted for a year, although they waned over time. However, the placebo “toothpick” treatment turned out to be just as good at combating back pain as real acupuncture.

The findings were published yesterday in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine. Daniel Cherkin, the trial leader from the Group Health Centre for Health Studies, in Seattle, said: “We found that simulated acupuncture produced as much benefit as needle acupuncture. That raises questions about how acupuncture works.”

Dr Cherkin said the results had important implications for patients who found conventional treatments ineffective. “The reduction in long-term exposure to the potential adverse effects of medications is also an important benefit that may enhance the safety of conventional medical care,” he said.

Karen Sherman, also a member of the research team, said that, historically, some types of acupuncture have used non-penetrating needles, possibly explaining the success of the placebo treatment.

“We don’t know why people got back pain relief from the simulated acupuncture,” Dr Sherman said. “Maybe the context in which people get treatment has effects that are more important than the mechanical effects.”

At the eight-week stage, 60 per cent of patients receiving any type of acupuncture had a clinically meaningful improvement in their level of functioning, compared with 39 per cent of those receiving regular care.

At the one-year point, 59 to 65 per cent of those in the acupuncture groups experienced an improvement, compared with 50 per cent of the standard care group.

Back pain is the largest single cause of work-related absence in Britain. Lower back pain, also known as lumbago, affects seven out of ten people at some time in their lives.

Josephine Briggs, director of the US National Centre for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, which funded the Spine trial, said: “The findings add to the growing body of evidence that something meaningful is taking place during acupuncture treatments. Future research is needed to delve deeper into what is evoking these responses.”

Alternative therapies

— Willow bark, which contains a chemical similar to aspirin, is a significant help to sufferers of chronic lower back pain, a study published in the American Journal of Medicine found

— Researchers at the University of Sydney found that neither diclofenac, a powerful painkiller, nor spinal manipulative therapy gave any clinically useful effects compared with mild painkillers such as paracetamol

— Cleveland Clinic, an American research hospital, found that patients who listened to music for an hour a day experienced a 20 per cent reduction in back pain

— A folk remedy for back pain suggests finding a dirty rock, spitting on its underside and putting it back where it was found

The cause of acne:

• Lung Heat: Symptoms include acne with a predominance of lesions on the forehead and near the nose. There may be slight itching as well. In cases with a rapid onset of new lesions, the patient may complain of chills or sensitivity to Wind. The patient may have an aversion to heat and feel thirsty. The tongue is generally red with a thin yellow coat, and the pulse may be rapid and floating.
• Stomach Heat: Symptoms include acne with a predominance of lesions around the mouth and on the chest, shoulders, and back. The patient may have an aversion to heat; have a large appetite and thirst; and prefer greasy, spicy foods. There may be a tendency to pass dry stools as well. The tongue is usually red with a thick yellow coating, and the pulse is rapid and forceful.
• Toxic Heat: Symptoms include severe acne, strongly inflamed with pus-filled nodules and much reddening of the skin around the lesions. The patient may have an aversion to heat as well and may complain of malaise. The tongue is generally red with a dry yellow coating, and the pulse is rapid.
• Damp Heat: Symptoms include acne composed of deep, pus-filled, inflamed nodules. The skin usually is oily, and the patient may have an aversion to heat. He or she may be thirsty but have no desire to take fluids. The tongue generally is red or crimson, with a greasy or sticky coating. The pulse is rapid and may have slippery or wiry qualities as well.
• Blood Heat: Symptoms include acne that is accompanied by a flushed face and strong aversion to heat. The patient may complain of thirst, dark urine, and dry stools. The tongue usually is red (with a redder tip) and has a yellow coating, or may be crimson in colour. The pulse usually is rapid and thin.

Treating Acne at Chisense

In Chisense, we combine Deep Cleansing Facial with Acupuncture to treat acne, along with advice on lifestyle and diet. The treatment takes approximately 2 hours. Price is £55 per session. A course of 7 sessions is at the reduced price of £340 (save £45).

Menopause treated by Acupuncture
The principle of TCM acupuncture for menopause treatment,  is to improve energy flow and blood circulation throughout the body internally, nourishing the kidney essence deficiency, relaxing anxiety, warming the Kidney Yang, invigorating the spleen, soothing the heart, calming down excessive heat in the liver.
There are 3 main types of menopause which can be treated by acupuncture efficiently with traditional Chinese medicine.

• Deficiency of Kidney Yin
  Dizziness, headache, tinnitus, soreness and weakness of lumbar and knees, irritability, sweating accompanied by palpitations, sleeplessness, poor memory, feverish sensation over the chest, palms and soles, dryness of eyes, absent-mindedness, mental disorder and fear, irregular menstruation with a small amount of purplish-red and dripping menstrual flow, red tongue with little coating, thin and rapid pulse, or itching, crawling or numbness of the skin and even convulsions.
• Deficiency of Kidney Yang
  Hypo-menorrhea with light-coloured and thin menses, delayed menstrual cycles, loose stool/diarrhoea, poly-uria/frequency of urine during the night, thin discharge,  aversion to cold, poor appetite, soreness and weakness of lumbar and knees, tight sensation in the chest, coldness of the back, bearing-down sensation of pudenda, listlessness, apathy, pale tongue and deep and weak pulse.
• Deficiency of both Kidney Yin and Yang
  Sometimes hypo menorrhea or hyper menorrhea, menstruation cycles irregular, sometimes hot, sometimes cold, hot flashes, dizziness, tinnitus, poor memory, coldness and soreness of back and lumbar, pale tongue and thin coating.

Menopause symptoms

During the menopause/perimenopause years, hormonal fluctuation brings women significant bodily changes, with such symptoms as follows.

Irregular periods, a sensation of heat in the body/hot flushes, sweating, irritability, dizziness, tinnitus, diarrhoea, lassitude/tiredness/ restless, infertility problems, vaginal dryness and atrophy, bladder control problems, insomnia/disrupted sleep, palpitations, weight gain, wrinkling and loss of muscle tone and headaches.
Other physical signs you may notice are: breast tenderness, gastrointestinal distress and nausea, tingling or itchy skin, “buzzing” in your head, feeling bloated, light-headedness, sore joints/muscles, hair loss or thinning, increase in facial hair and changes in body odour.

Menopause explained by Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)
In traditional Chinese medicine, the body is seen as an integrated system of various organs reflected by the 14 main meridian channels. If energy (Chi, Qi) is blocked along any of those meridian lines, it will bring a health imbalance to our body.
Menopause syndrome is mainly caused by Kidney Yin deficiency or Kidney Yang deficiency resulting from the using up of kidney-essence.
A woman’s body, during the menopause period, starts aging in a new way. The Kidney-Essence, Kidney Qi/Chi, gradually decline and Yin/Yang becomes imbalanced. Kidney Chi/Qi deficiency, and Yin Yang imbalance, can lead to subsequent erratic results on other body organs, excessive heat in the liver flows upward, resulting in Chi/Qi stagnation of Liver. The body’s defensive Qi/Chi reduces correspondingly.
From the principle of the Five Elements theory, this Deficiency of Kidney Yin means the heart and liver cannot be fully nourished, leading to hyperactivity of Fire of the Heart and Liver, this also causes disharmony of the heart and spleen.
The most well-known symptom of the menopause is the “hot flush”. TCM views the reason to be a deficiency of kidney Yin as well as excessive heat in Liver.

Why do we choose an acupuncture for menopause not HRT?
Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) is commonly used for the menopause in modern medicine. Some believe that HRT can be good for improving hot flushes and preventing osteoporosis, but HRT also increases the risk of breast, ovarian and uterine cancer, and has many significant side-effects.
In China, many women who suffer from infertility, mastitis, irregular menstruation/menoxenia, chronic pelvic inflammatory disease, prolapsed uterus, dysfunctional uterine bleeding, as well as menopause, benefit from acupuncture treatments.
Acupuncture is a no side-effect treatment.
Inserting a fine sterilized used-once-only needle into a specific point on the body, at a spot where the Chinese medicine practitioners have practiced for centuries, is aiming to improve the flow of body energy (Chi/Qi) and the blood circulation. Once those circuits work well, any local organs and tissues in our body can have enough supplements delivered by this increased circulation of blood and Chi (energy).  Otherwise, those blockages can cause our body to succumb to illness.
Menopause syndrome contains two important keys— Liver depression and Qi stagnation, and excessive heat (fire) flows upward when it should be released downwards.
Acupuncture’s strength is that it is a great method for correcting liver depression qi stagnation and symptoms of erroneously counter-flowing qi. The regulation and rectification of body Chi/Qi flow, gives acupuncture an irreplaceable position among the many complementary therapies.
Acupuncture is helpful in balancing the Qi and in strengthening internal organ systems.

How much does acupuncture for Menopause treatment cost?
Although, in China, acupuncture treatments can be given as often as on a daily base (depending on the severity), in the West, clients suffering from menopause complaints, mostly respond very well to acupuncture treatment performed twice a week for the first 3 weeks, and following up with once a week for around 4 weeks. After this course, a monthly maintenance session is highly recommended as liver depression can be a recurrent condition.
In general, a noticeable result can be seen after 6-7 sessions of acupuncture treatment. In some stubborn cases, acupuncture treatment may take a few months.
Chisense Health Clinic, offers a very reasonable price, a course of 10 sessions of acupuncture treatment is offered at a discounted price totalling £250, paid in advance – normally, we charge £30 for a single 50 minute session of acupuncture treatment.
Meanwhile, all the TCM consultation is free, on the condition that a relevant paid treatment course is being followed.
During the acupuncture treatment period, we prefer you to follow certain dietary and lifestyle advice to provide you with the best results.
Chisense Health Beauty clinic is a Chi oriented holistic health beauty practice in Aldgate, City, Whitechapel, Shoreditch, Bishopsgate, Central East London area. Our treatments focus on using alternative natural methods rather than simply removing symptoms only. We offer all types of traditional Chinese medicine therapies such as acupuncture, Tuina massage, cupping detox, Guasha, Reflexology, Acupressure, Acupuncture in ears (auricular therapy).