Migraine Headaches

 

Pain from migraines is thought to be caused by vasodilation of cranial blood vessels which increases the inward pressure on the cerebral cortex. This inward pressure causes intense headache pain.

The western medical approach for migraines is to reverse the vasodilation by using medications to shrink the diameter of the blood vessels in between the skull and the cerebral cortex. Medications for migraines like Imitrex, Zomig, Maxalt, Amerge, Frova, Axert are vasoconstrictors and will relieve migraine pain for about a day. These medications come with side effects such as dizziness, drowsiness, fatigue, chest, jaw, or neck tightness. Another medication, Migranal, is a non-selective 5-HT receptor agonist ergotamine derivatives that is also a vasoconstrictor. It comes with the side effect of nausea and vomiting. In addition, analgesics such as Excedrin Migraine has caffeine for vasoconstriction, but produces insomnia.

Traditional Chinese Medicine will treat the root cause of a migraine which is reduced flow of blood and energy. Vasodilation in the brain is our body's compensatory response to the reduced blood flow to the brain as the result of tension. Chinese medical treatments will relieve the tension to maximize the blood flow to the brain. Once the brain senses the normalized blood flow, the blood vessels will stop dilation and start to constrict back to normal diameter in as short as 15 to 30 minutes. This approach reduces the vasodilation by giving the brain what it wants, more blood, not more drugs. Migraine recurrence is vastly reduced. Even for frequent migraine sufferers, once the tension is removed with 6 to 12 treatments, the result is years of being migraine free.