Lu Lun - Deputy Chief Physician - Department of Encephalopathy
Xiyuan Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences
01What are the causes of headache during menstruation
Menstrual headaches are mainly caused by disturbances in the endocrine structures or endocrine secretion levels in the body during menstruation. The common reason is because of the decrease in estradiol during menstruation, and affect the secretion of serotonin, catecholamines and other neurotransmitters, then these neurotransmitters act on different tissues of the human body, such as: the uterus will cause uterine contractions, causing this effect of intracranial blood vessels, intracranial arteries or intracranial veins, resulting in abnormal contraction of intracranial arterial veins, especially for young women The vascular elasticity is better, and this contraction amplitude is often larger, and this contraction can cause spasmodic headaches.
02What kind of headache can be treated by TCM
Indications for the treatment of headaches in Traditional Chinese medicine: There are many reasons, and there may be hundreds of diseases that cause headaches, many of which are organic lesions, such as: intracranial tumors, intracranial mass, including cerebrovascular disease-related diseases, and intracranial inflammatory diseases, which are often the manifestations of serious neurological diseases. Then such a disease we still have to find the cause first, if the cause is clearly some organic lesions, such as: mass tumors, inflammation, headaches caused by vascular lesions, or it is recommended that Western medicine treatment or a combination of Chinese and Western treatment should be the mainstay. Other functional headaches, such as tension headaches, migraines, cluster headaches, headaches of these functional diseases are recommended for TCM treatment.
03What are the methods of TCM treatment of headaches
The methods of TCM for the treatment of headaches are mainly divided into drug treatment and non-drug treatment. Drug therapy is mainly based on the cause of the patient's disease, accompanying symptoms, and then dialectical treatment, giving the patient an appropriate prescription. Non-drug treatment, Chinese medicine means are also many, such as: guidance, massage, acupuncture, physiotherapy, including acupuncture point compression, incense, drug soaking, medicinal bath these non-drug treatment, some functional headaches also have a good improvement effect, Chinese medicine in this treatment is still very distinctive, in fact, the treatment of this headache, especially combined with internal and external use often has a good effect on this functional headache.
04What are the advantages of TCM treatment of headaches
The efficacy of TCM is relatively stable. At the same time, because of the intervention method of drugs, such as: manual treatment, acupuncture treatment, it is a green treatment method, and there is no dependence and addiction like Western medicine. There are many painkillers in Western medicine that have some irritation to the stomach and digestive tract. And Chinese medicine can play a balancing role in this regard. Chinese medicine is more for headache treatment is conditioning, is a comprehensive intervention, unlike Western medicine, such as: headache, then we use painkillers, especially functional headaches in addition to painkillers, there is no other better way. In this regard, Chinese medicine has the effect of comprehensive intervention, fundamentally changing the constitution and symptoms of patients. In this regard, Chinese medicine has advantages, and at the same time has the effect of reducing poison and increasing efficiency when combined with Western medicine.
05 What are the precautions for acupuncture treatment of headaches
4 Precautions for Acupuncture treatment of headaches. Acupuncture is a good treatment for both acute headaches and subacute headaches. But acupuncture is an invasive procedure after all, so there are still some aspects to pay attention to in the process of treatment. First, the elderly, pregnant women, the treatment should be gentle, do not use too strong stimulation. Second, patients who are allergic to acupuncture and will cause acupuncture-related shock should be used with caution. Third, headache is an empirical one, and we must pay attention not to use complementarity. Fourth, for patients who are more tired, hungry, and sleep-deprived, acupuncture must be cautious.
06How long does acupuncture take to treat headaches
The treatment time varies depending on the cause and classification of the headache. Acute headache early acupuncture, in fact, the course of treatment is shorter, it is generally believed that in about 7 days or 7 days to 14 days can basically solve the problem. The frequency of each acupuncture is about once every other day. For chronic or subacute headaches, the patient's course of illness is longer, and the adjustment time of acupuncture may be relatively longer. It can generally take two to three months. Basically, each acupuncture is performed every other day, and may also be combined with medications.
The treatment time varies depending on the cause and classification of the headache. Acute headaches generally resolve the problem in 7 to 14 days. For chronic or subacute headaches, it can generally take two to three months.
07 How to prevent cervical headache
There are two main aspects to preventing cervical headaches. First, for the headache caused by the herniated disc, we must often do something related, such as: looking up or cervical spine activity, if necessary, after examination found that the disc is herniated, may do some traction physical therapy, which can reduce the stimulation of the disc. Second, cervical muscle spasm type, it is recommended that patients work on the desk or maintain a long-term action process, it is recommended to carry out neck activities frequently. This allows the neck to relax the neck muscles, and even when sleeping, the pillow may be lowered a little, so that the entire cervical spine is completely relaxed and the muscles are fully rested. Prevention of cervical headaches through physical methods.
08 Massage which acupuncture points can relieve headaches
Compression of acupuncture points has a certain analgesic effect on acute headaches, and pressing the following 4 acupuncture points can relieve headaches.
First, the Inner Guan Cave.
Second, the other acupuncture point is the intersection of the upward and midline of the ears, which is called the Baihui acupuncture point. The compression of the Baihui acupuncture point can also relieve the headache.
Third, Yintang can also relieve headaches.
Fourth, the wind pool, some patients will feel that the neck is hard, the neck is tight, this kind of patient presses the wind pool acupoint, generally clockwise 30 times, counterclockwise 30 times, the average one-second compression speed, each time pressing for one minute.
09What is the principle of acupuncture treatment for headaches
Acupuncture relieves pain by acupuncture points in the body's relevant acupuncture points. Experimental studies have shown that soon after acupuncture, the level of endorphins in the human body will be significantly improved, and play a role in pain relief. Acupuncture can adjust the meridians and internal organs. This imbalance of opportunities can be balanced through the adjustment of acupuncture, and the balance of yin and yang can play a role in helping to correct and dispel evil. By correcting the effect of dispelling evil spirits to achieve the adjustment of the human body, then the treatment is the release of endorphins, which is an acute curative effect, and the adjustment of the human body's organ unevenness, through the acupuncture method is a long-term curative effect.
10 People with a high incidence of headaches
Different headaches, high-incidence people are not the same. For example, the high incidence of tension headaches tends to be young people. The headache of the elderly is often noted, the headache of the elderly is often accompanied by more obvious organic lesions, such as: subarachnoid hemorrhage, cerebrovascular disease, so the headache of the elderly should be paid attention to, to go to the hospital to do relevant examinations, to clarify the cause of the headache. Migraines are also common in young women, who may cause vasoconstriction or genetic factors due to the good elasticity of blood vessels. Therefore, according to different causes of headaches, the high incidence of people is different.
11 How TCM treats cervical headaches
The treatment of cervical headaches in Chinese medicine is nothing more than internal treatment and external treatment. The internal treatment method mainly starts according to the meridian angle of the cervical spine. Cervical headaches are treated through some menstrual drugs, including some antispasmodic drugs and anti-cold drugs. External treatment methods can be used to massage, acupuncture, drug patches, in the neck specifically focus on the neck, such as: acupuncture treatment, acupuncture treatment can be selected cervical spine related or neck muscle related acupuncture points for treatment. The cervical joint can be adjusted in terms of manual techniques. Relax the muscles near the cervical spine, and there are also some characteristic treatments, such as: medicine packing.
12 Why headaches occur after sex
There are probably several causes of headaches caused by sex.
First, high blood pressure caused by strenuous exercise. High blood pressure can cause traction pain. High blood pressure headaches tend to occur after sex. Second, the headache during sexual life, it is often because the body's catecholamines, a large amount of secretion of epinephrine caused by the body's sensitive neurotransmitter reflex, such reflexes cause headaches during sexual life.
Third, the severe headache after ejaculation that occurs in men during sex is often some pathological factor. This headache can often be accompanied by a serious illness. Because it is associated with the reflexes of the central nervous system. Such headaches are recommended to go to the hospital for imaging tests to rule out intracranial lesions.
13How does sleep have to do with headaches?
The quality of sleep is good or bad, in fact, not only with headaches, but also with people's usual living conditions and quality of life are closely related. During sleep, the human body actually carries out an endocrine adjustment, a large number of harmful substances are absorbed and metabolized, and the human body absorbs and adjusts the toxic substances to release some beneficial factors. When the structure of this sleep or the quality of sleep is seriously reduced, the secretion of this toxic side effect cannot be effectively removed, and headaches may occur.
14 Complementary tests to help diagnose headache
Complementary tests to diagnose headache include CT, MRI, etc. As a headache, primary headache when the patient appears for the first time, we think that a lot of auxiliary tests are very necessary, first need to do some imaging tests, such as: ct, MRI, so that it can exclude some acute pain, especially acute pain in the elderly. We see whether the patient has cerebrovascular disease, cerebral hemorrhage, and subarachnoid hemorrhage, except for imaging tests. For subacute, chronic, progressively worsening headaches, MRI can exclude intracranial mass lesions. In addition, it is mostly transcranial Doppler examination. Headaches caused by spastic cerebrovascular spasm in some young people can be screened by a Doppler test.
What are the principles of acupuncture for 15 acupuncture treatment headaches
Acupuncture treatment for headaches should first identify the headache site, generally following the principle of acupuncture. Therefore, it is necessary to look at the location of the patient's headache to determine which meridian the patient's headache is caused by. After determining which meridian it is caused by, the acupuncture points are selected at the relevant circulation site of the meridian. For example, the headache caused by the sun and the bladder meridian should be mainly based on the sun meridian selection. The most common is based on temporal pain on both sides, and it may be necessary to choose Shao positive acupuncture. At the same time, acupuncture is selected according to the patient's dialectics.
16What are the characteristics of cluster headache
The most important feature of cluster headache is that it often occurs in middle-aged or young people, and the biggest feature is that it is painful like ice. Each pain generally lasts from 10 minutes to several hours, manifested as a daily on-time attack, it is generally from the unilateral eye area to begin to feel uncomfortable, while the ipsilateral nasal mucosa is congested, there is a runny nose, such symptoms, immediately the patient will have a severe headache, this headache is very unbearable for the patient, and this headache is often pulsatile, like the blood vessels are jumping.
17 How to prevent cluster headaches
Cluster headache in terms of prevention is to pay attention to life, living and diet. In terms of life, cluster headaches are often caused by emotional agitation, poor rest, and excessive pressure, so it is necessary to maintain a comfortable mood, adequate sleep, and avoid noise or too closed environments in life. Frequent outdoor activities. In terms of diet, care should be taken to minimize food intake that may cause vasoconstriction. For example: chocolate, red wine, coffee, eat more light diet, appropriate supplementation of high-quality plant protein.
18 Why increased intracranial pressure can cause headaches
The main cause of headache due to increased intracranial pressure is traction pain. The reason for the intracranial pressure is that the central nervous system is actually soaked in cerebrospinal fluid, including the spinal cord and the brain are soaked in the environment of cerebrospinal fluid. CSF is a process of continuous circulation, then it produces new CSF every day, and the old CSF is absorbed into the body's circulatory system by the venous system. When CSF production or absorption is impaired by either cause, the CSF volume in the skull is greater than normal. This condition causes increased intracranial pressure. The main cause of increased intracranial pressure often arises from adhesions and mass lesions in the subarachnoid space, which block the venous return system. When intracranial pressure increases and cerebrospinal fluid circulation is impaired, increased cerebrospinal fluid can cause traction, such as some sensitizing structures of the thalamus or sensitized tissues in the brain. This stretching pain is the main cause of headache after increased intracranial pressure.
19What are the common conditions in which toxic headaches are
Toxic headaches are secondary headaches caused by various foods and drugs. First, in the process of severe disease, some of our related drugs may be overdose can cause toxic headaches. Second, carbon monoxide poisoning, as we often call gas poisoning. Patients may develop post-carbon monoxide encephalopathy after gas poisoning, the most prominent symptom of which is the presence of oblivion, memory loss, or memory loss. On this basis, some patients may also experience headache-like changes.
20 Why do you have a headache after reading a book for a long time
The causes of headaches caused by reading books for a long time are generally two.
First, eye fatigue headache. The main cause of eye fatigue headaches is due to the fact that the ciliary muscle actually dominates the movement of the eyeball during the process of reading a book. This movement of the eyeballs moves for a long time without rest, which can cause fatigue of the ciliary muscles. Ciliary muscle fatigue can pull down some of the tissue structure in the skull, causing the patient to feel headaches. This kind of headache can often be alleviated by visual rest and visual shielding.
Second, because of the long-term reading and posture-related cervical headache. Discomfort of the cervical spine or joint disorders of the cervical spine and tension of the cervical spine, long-term can not relax, this kind of lying motion or reading action may cause pain after reading a book for a long time. Such pain can be prevented by moving the neck muscles, performing certain massages, and changing the reading posture.
21 Which eye diseases can cause headaches
The following 3 eye diseases can cause headaches. First, glaucoma, especially angle-closure glaucoma. Then we often see some patients with severe headaches accompanied by eye acid, eye swelling, often go to the neurology department to see a doctor, then change the doctor to carry out the relevant examination can not find the cause, then the patient himself must also have a consciousness, will there be a possibility of glaucoma, especially for some young and middle-aged patients, the specificity of glaucoma is that its headache will be aggravated by pressing the eyeball. Second, conjunctivitis, iritis, these eye diseases can also cause headaches.
22 How TCM recognizes headaches
Chinese medicine believes that the head is the meeting of the suns, reaching the top. Therefore, Chinese medicine attaches great importance to the effect of wind on headaches when treating headaches. Through this understanding, Chinese medicine divides headaches into external headaches and internal injury headaches. In fact, before the Tang and Song dynasties, we always believed that it was caused by external sensations, which were caused by wind chill and wind heat. After the Tang and Song dynasties, with the advancement of medicine, this internal injury headache rose to a very important position. Then think that the human body, for example: because of the seven passions and six desires, diet, life is not excessive, old age and physical decline, so many reasons may cause headaches, which is called internal injury headache. Therefore, Chinese medicine mainly divides headaches into external sensations and internal injuries, and gives different dialectical treatments according to the different causes of external sensations and internal injuries.
23 How to differentiate the treatment of external headaches
Dialectical treatment of external headache. If the patient has been having a headache for more than a year, first of all, he is not considered an external headache. External headaches are generally acute onset, so they may be sudden headaches within a few days or a month. External headaches are divided into wind chill headaches, wind fever headaches and rheumatic headaches. Wind chill headache is mainly manifested as aggravation of cold, heat reduction, then patients like heat and do not like cold, and wind and heat headache patients may appear to like to go to cool places, like to blow wind, so when it hurts to blow cold wind outside will feel comfortable. The main feeling of rheumatic headache is rheumatic evil qi, which is manifested as a heavy head.
24 How to treat internal injuries and headaches dialectically
There are many types of internal injuries and headaches. It mainly includes qi deficiency, blood deficiency, yin deficiency, yang deficiency, kidney deficiency, phlegm turbidity, and blood stasis. Qi deficiency headache is a headache after fatigue. Blood deficiency headaches tend to occur in young women, including some patients who have been ill for a long time. Patients with yin deficiency may have dry mouth and tongue and headache at night. Patients with yang deficiency headache obviously feel cold intolerant limbs. Kidney deficiency headache is often seen in the elderly, which will have fatigue, waist and knee weakness, accompanied by empty head pain. Patients with sputum-cloudy headaches may feel their heads heavy and wrapped, accompanied by dizziness. The site of blood stasis headache is very fixed. The above is the dialectic of internal injuries and headaches.
25 Traditional Chinese medicine treatment headache how to apply menstrual drugs to improve the efficacy
There are several commonly used introductory drugs. According to the classification of the Six Classics, the headache of the Yang Jing is the pain of the neck, so the commonly used menstrual medicines are Kudzu, Chai Hu, and Bai Zhi. These are the three Yang Jing jing medicines, which basically treat all headaches, so identify the symptoms according to the patient's situation. Then the introduction medicine of the Taiyin Sutra is Cangshu, the introduction medicine of the Shaoyin Sutra is Fine Xin, and the jingjing medicine of the Yin Sutra is Gao Ben and Wu Zhu Yun. Specific medications should be used dialectically under the guidance of a doctor.