Alternative Acupressure Migraine Help

More than 28 million adults in the United States suffer from debilitating headaches called migraines, according to "Neurology" magazine. These headaches are frequently accompanied by symptoms such as light sensitivity, sound sensitivity, dizziness and nausea. There are many triggers for migraines, including environmental elements, food allergens and stress. Alternative practices such as acupressure offer migraine help. Since there is a correlation between blood flow and migraines, acupressure treatment helps relieve stress and improve circulation, thereby reducing pain and the duration of a migraine headache. Migraine sufferers can perform acupressure on themselves, providing immediate relief.

How Acupressure Helps Migraines

• Traditional Chinese medicine uses acupuncture as an "energy-based" approach for pain management. It's based on the premise that qi (energy) flows through a body just as blood flows through it. When something blocks the flow of energy, pain results.

  Constricting blood vessels cause migraines, and practitioners who treat patients with acupressure believe that the constriction also prevents energy from flowing through the body. Acupressure practitioners work with their hands, applying pressure through points on the skin that remove blockages, allowing blood and energy to flow freely, relieving migraine pain. The effect is similar to a massage, which relaxes muscle spasms and stiffness, which could be associated with migraines. This offers pain relief for the patient.

Self-Administered Acupressure

• The best way to learn how to do effective acupressure on yourself is to familiarize yourself with acupuncture points. Websites such as Acuxo, the Acupuncture Research & Resource center, provide diagrams and descriptions of a body's acupuncture points.

  Start relieving migraine headaches by applying pressure to your gallbladder (GB) 20 points. These are the points where your neck vertebra meets the base of your skull. Find a point on each side of the back of your neck and gently apply pressure with your thumbs on these points. Increase the pressure gradually as you press upward into your occipital bone.

  Other pressure points that help relieve migraine headaches are the GB 21 point, the large intestine (LI) 4, the governing vessel (GV) 20 and the triple warmer (TW5).

Professional Acupuncturists

• Some migraine sufferers might prefer going to a professional acupuncture practitioner for treatment. A professional practitioner can teach the patient about exact pressure points and how the body reacts to them. Some practitioners also teach martial arts that focus on striking pressure points.