Conditions
Acupuncture for headaches, with Dr. Peter Caron.
Most people I see for headaches take painkillers more days than they’d like. These headaches usually start in tight neck and jaw muscles, and that is where I treat them. I treat migraine too.
Why it hasn’t gotten better
The headache is often the last thing to arrive.
A tension headache feels like pressure or a tight band around the head. It builds through the afternoon, after hours at a screen or a day of clenching your jaw. Unlike migraine, it rarely sends you to a dark room.
When it starts at the base of the skull, the neck is often the source. Tight neck muscles send pain up into the head. The headache and the stiff neck are the same problem.
When to see a physician first
A sudden, severe headache unlike any you’ve had needs medical care now, not an acupuncture appointment. So do headaches with fever and a stiff neck, numbness or weakness, confusion, or vision changes. The same goes for a headache after a blow to the head, or a new pattern after fifty. I’ll raise any of these on the call.
What it feels like
What people describe when they first call.
- A tight band of pressure around your forehead or temples
- A dull ache that builds through the afternoon at the desk
- Pain that starts at the base of the skull and climbs over the top of your head
- A headache that gets worse when you hold your head in one position
- You wake with a sore jaw, or an ache at the temples after clenching overnight
- You take painkillers for it on more days than you’d like
If you recognized yourself in that list, the free 15-minute call is the place to start.
How I treat it
I start where the headache starts.
Acupuncture
Acupuncture releases the tight muscles in your neck and jaw that send pain into your head and turns down the pain signals, so headaches come less often.
I press along the neck, shoulders, temples, and jaw to find the points that reproduce your headache. Fine needles go there, often with light electrical stimulation in the neck.
- Trigger point release
- Motor-point stimulation
- Cervical work
- Referral mapping
Herbal medicine
An herbal formula works on the poor sleep and tension that keep setting the headaches off between visits.
Headaches that keep coming back often follow poor sleep or stress held in the shoulders and jaw. An herbal formula works on both between visits.
- Herbal formula
- Constitutional support
If treatment is working, headache days usually start to fall by visits three to six.
Fifteen minutes on the phone is usually enough to tell whether I can help.
Your first visit
What happens the first time you come in.
- We go through the history Where the headache sits, how many days a month you get it, what sets it off, and what you take for it. If it sounds like migraine, I’ll tell you, since the treatment is different.
- I find where it starts I press along the neck, shoulders, temples and jaw. When a point reproduces your headache, that’s usually where treatment begins.
- You’re treated the same day Fine needles at those points, often with light electrical stimulation in the neck. Many people feel the pressure ease before they get off the table.
- You leave with a plan Roughly how many visits it should take, and a simple count of headache days so we can both see whether it’s working.
What to expect
How it usually goes, visit by visit.
We count your headache days from the start, so we can both see whether the number falls.
- Visits 1–2 The muscles in the neck and shoulders start to let go. Some people notice the afternoon headache arriving later in the day.
- Visits 3–6 If it’s working, this is where the count of headache days starts to fall.
- After that We space visits out to keep it there. If nothing has changed by the sixth visit, I’ll say so and suggest what to try next.
Typical ranges, not promises. Results vary from person to person.
You’ll know at the first visit roughly how many visits it should take.
What the research shows
In a Cochrane review of 12 trials, acupuncture made frequent tension-type headaches less frequent.
A 2016 Cochrane review pooled 12 trials of acupuncture for frequent tension headaches. In the largest, headache frequency at least halved for 48% of people who added acupuncture. On usual care alone, 19% did. Against sham needling, the figures were 51% and 43%. Reviewers rated the evidence moderate quality.
Headaches that start in the neck have less research behind them.
Questions
What people ask about headaches.
Something not covered here? Ask on the free discovery call.
Usually you feel a dull ache or a twitch, and then the muscle softens. Many people feel the pressure ease before they leave.
A tension headache presses on both sides like a band, and you can work through it. Migraine tends to throb, often on one side, with nausea or sensitivity to light and sound. I treat both.
Often, yes. When a headache climbs from the base of the skull, I start with the neck muscles. The research on neck headaches is smaller than for tension headaches.
The jaw muscles send pain into the temples, so I check the jaw and treat it with the neck. If you grind at night, a night guard and acupuncture can be used together.
We track your headache days at every visit. If it’s working, the count usually falls by visits three to six. If it hasn’t moved after six visits, I’ll say so.
Taking painkillers on many days a month can keep headaches going. Don’t stop or change anything without talking to the doctor who advises you on them. Fewer headache days usually means fewer pills.
You don’t need a referral. See a physician first for a sudden, severe headache, or one with fever and a stiff neck. The same goes for numbness, confusion, vision changes, a blow to the head, or a new pattern after fifty.
Possibly, depending on your plan. We’re out of network and don’t bill insurance. After each visit we send a superbill you can submit. Ask your plan about out-of-network acupuncture first.
If your question isn’t here, ask it on the call. It’s free and takes fifteen minutes.
Related conditions
Often treated alongside this one.
Anxiety & depression
For a body that stays braced when nothing is wrong.
Migraine
For migraine attacks that keep coming back.
Neck pain
For a neck that won’t turn all the way.
Start here
Tell me where the headache starts.
Describe where it sits and what brings it on. In a few minutes you’ll know whether I can help, or whether it needs a physician first.
If you already know you want to come in, book an initial visit.