Acupuncture for Migraines A Good Combination

by Debra Arko Novotny | Sep 18, 2015 | Acupuncture

I believe healers remember their first patient. “Michelle” had migraines and I had migraines. After many medical doctors and drugs, she wanted to try something new. I was new and different because I do acupuncture and at that time, few people had heard of it. Acupuncture for migraines is an ancient remedy in Chinese Medicine.

Acupuncture For Migraines A Positive Move

Michelle came in excited at the idea she might be able to stop using prescription drugs. I, on the other hand, was nervous! After all, she was my first patient outside of my internship. She didn’t mind coming to my home it felt cozy she said.

It’s hard to believe that was over 20 years ago and today still, my favorite thing to help people with is migraines. Michelle’s migraine success still makes me smile. She didn’t do anything hard. She just used homeopathy, with acupuncture for migraines.

The first thing I notice was the heavy perfume. Michelle didn’t smell it as it wafted around her. On inquiry I discover she had migraines almost daily she told me as I gagged on the heavy scent of vanilla.

As we continued to talk, I found out she loved Victoria Secret and the Bath and Beauty stores at the mall. She had matching garments and matching body lotions for each set of clothing. Interestingly she loved the yellow color pairing it with Vanilla body lotion.

How Migraines and Chinese Medicine Work Together

Yellow is a color we associate with nourishment, support, and digestion in homeopathy. It also is the color in Chinese medicine for the Spleen and Stomach organs that also mean these things. Michelle had matching sets of yellow paired with Vanilla for 4 to 5 days a week.

As we dug deeper, Michelle was overwhelmed too. She was taking care of everyone else. She was the nourisher of her family a typical Spleen personality. Her husband worked long hours, she had to deal with four small kids alone and didn’t feel she had much support. She wanted to make his life as comfortable as possible and wanted to be attractive to her husband. These special gifts made her feel good – plain and simple.

Then the big question, “Have you noticed that your migraines happen on a particular color day?” “Often we know the answer. We sense it, feel it in our gut.

There was an enormous silence. She looked at her hands, then fidgeted her feet a bit. “Ah, maybe on the days I wear yellow?” she said.

Remember I was the nervous one now Michelle seemed uneasy but continued. “I worry a lot. My mom got fat after having kids so I don’t eat a lot. My husband didn’t seem to notice me even though I haven’t put on the weight until I started wearing these attractive undergarments. Now, well I feel appreciated sometimes.”

Homeopathy Along With Acupuncture Can Be Key

Worry and fear are emotions homeopathy and acupuncturists see with migraines due to Spleen and Stomach energy imbalances. Vanilla, a typical base scent in many perfumes and body lotions, triggers migraines for many users or family.

Michelle wasn’t eating enough, she also likely had an allergy to perfumes very common in migraine patients. These are not good things when we think acupuncture and migraines.

It took a few weeks but she stopped using vanilla scented products and we began moving healthy foods into her diet. Her headaches nearly stopped. We did acupuncture twice monthly once we were able to uncover a hormonal imbalance beneath the other problems.

My Inner Health Coach Enters The Picture

Now came the hard part. Talking about her mindset or what I like to call your personal spiritual journey. She worried a lot. Michelle had a story around her childhood and now she was repeating it as an adult.

We dug deep into some beliefs around her role as a mother, wife, and woman. Doing the style of treatment, I practice there is an element of looking at how our attitudes and beliefs interfere with our healing or aid our health.

It turned out Michelle obsessed over how to please others. The stress of trying to be perfect was adding to her migraines. She spent more time focusing on others over what made her happy. A cycle learned as many women from other women in our lives. She set up some special events, weekly personal times and other ideas Michelle came up with to nourish herself.

Within a year, Michelle was headache free. She was happier than she’d been in over a decade. She enjoyed more time with her husband and felt like a better mother. Was it acupuncture, was it the homeopathy or Chinese Medicine? Maybe it was the health coaching It was all of these and her desire to grow.

Health coaches spend a majority of their time working with people in this area as do acupuncturists. This is why some people who are terribly sick get well while those who should heal quickly linger. Belief systems play a significant role in health and wellness. It’s why cancer patients with a healthy outlook on life usually overcome their disease against odds, not in their favor.

Acupuncture isn’t a placebo, though. Our minds are powerful and can override the effects of illness and opposition in our reality. Examples of mental strength abound in stories of people living through battles or war.

3 Quick Questions To Ask Yourself

1. Do I take time for myself and my health?
2. Do I focus more on pleasing or helping others forgetting that I have to first care for me to be there for them?
3. Am I happy most the day living in the moment or do I dwell on yesterday or worry?

Acupuncture, homeopathy, and health coaching are a smart way to balance your life and health. They can help you have more health and happiness. It can help you show up in life for the ones you love in a better way too that set an example of confidence and joy.

images copyrights – Bigstock and Dreamstime

Names of our patients are changed to protect them and their families.