Treating Headaches using Tui Na

This a quite a large subject with headache symptoms which may include throbbing, pressure and tightness to scalp or face, constant pain from dull to sharp, making the head one of the most common sites for pain in people.
In Western Medicine there are two categories of headaches:

1. Primary which include migraine, tension and cluster which can resolve quickly while others are debilitating and can linger. Trigeminal neuralgia and other cranial nerve inflammation and daily persistent headaches fit here. These are not life threatening but some can show symptoms that imitate that of strokes.
2. Secondary include infectious issues or underlying structural problems, which takes in a wide range of medical conditions. These conditions can range from sinus infection, dental issues to bleeding in the brain and infections such as meningitis or encephalitis.  Headaches from traumatic injury, including post-concussion, substance abuse or medication excess along with the “hangover” from dehydration effects also fit in the category.

Treatments

Treatments depend on the diagnosis and symptoms and range from, pain killers or analgesics such as aspirin and paracetamol, codeine, mersyndol, fiorinal and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen for acute headaches.
Other therapies to consider are Acupuncture, Alexander technique, Aromatherapy, Ayurvedic medicine, Biofeedback, Chiropractic Therapy, Hydrotherapy, Massage, Meditation, Naturopathy, Osteopathy, Physiotherapy, Relaxation Techniques, Tuina, Shiatsu and Yoga.

In Chinese Medicine the essence of visceral Blood and Qi flow together in the head. It is also the Yang energies meet and where Clear Yang is supposed to climb to and then descend and disperse throughout the body. Exogenous Pathogenic Factors and Internal Damage affect this flow, along with the following conditions effect the body where headaches are one or most of the symptoms as an outcome of those conditions. These are Wind Heat, Wind Cold, Summer Damp, Liver Yang Rising, Phlegm Turbidity, Blood Deficiency, Kidney Deficiency and Blood Stagnation.

Areas of the head that are affected are:

• Large Intestine (Taiyang) headache: neck, nape and occiput.
• Stomach (Yangming) headache: across the forehead and supraorbital ridge
• Gall Bladder (ShaoYang) headache: sides of the head
• Liver (JueYin) headache: vertex or top of the head, and may can include the eyes and nausea or vomiting.

Tuina is an excellent and effective treatment for addressing these problems.