When you have pain, you can take painkillers, but medicine can be harmful. Besides taking medication, you can also relieve headaches by massaging acupoints.
Six natural pain relief acupoints
Hegu and Taichong acupoints: Hegu acupoint is the original acupoint of the Hand Yangming Large Intestine Meridian, and many pain symptoms in the body can be resolved by it. Hegu acupoint is located at the tiger's mouth where the thumb and index finger connect, and similar to it, Taichong acupoint is also located between the thumb and index finger. As representatives of the Four Gates acupoints in the human body, the former belongs to Yang, and the latter belongs to Yin. When used together, they have the functions of regulating the internal organs, balancing Yin and Yang, calming the liver and extinguishing wind, and relieving wind and pain. Therefore, if you can massage the Hegu acupoint while also massaging the Taichong acupoint, the pain relief effect will be better.
Taiyang acupoint: Taiyang acupoint, also known as Rejuvenation acupoint in some medical literature, can effectively relieve symptoms such as headache, head fullness, and stuffiness when people experience them. Taiyang acupoint is located at the midpoint of the line connecting the outer corner of the eyebrow and the outer corner of the eye, about one horizontal finger's indentation backwards. As an acupoint that can dispel wind and open collaterals, it has obvious therapeutic effects on symptoms such as migraine and eye fatigue.
Fengchi acupoint: Many headache symptoms are caused by wind and cold. If you feel chills and fever, headache in the neck and occiput, it is most likely caused by wind and cold. You can massage the Fengchi acupoint. The Fengchi acupoint is located at the depression below the occipital bone and the mastoid process, and it can relieve headaches caused by liver wind, such as spring hypertension headaches.
Baihui acupoint and Sishencong acupoint: In addition, you can also massage the Baihui acupoint on the top of the head (located at the intersection of the midline of the head and the line connecting the tips of the two ears) and the Sishencong acupoint (1 inch in front, back, left, and right of the Baihui acupoint). This is very helpful for relieving pain in the top of the head.
Read more: Causes of headaches
1. Cluster headaches
In clinical practice, they are rare and easy to misdiagnose. They have no family history and mainly affect young males. During the attack period, there will be recurrent short-term unilateral headache attacks with a periodicity of about 30 minutes to several hours, occurring 2-3 times a day. They are often accompanied by runny nose and tearing, and are often mistaken for migraines or sinusitis. They usually occur in autumn and winter, with typical attacks of severe headache at night. Acetaminophen painkillers (such as Tylenol) often cannot relieve the pain, and smoking can exacerbate headaches.
2. Typical migraines
More common in young women, may be related to hormones, usually have a significant family history, and headaches may be related to alcohol, hypoxia, and emotions. The history of migraines is generally long, with repeated attacks and relief within 1-72 hours between single attacks.
Most migraines occur on one side of the temples, but in one-third of the cases, they can occur on both sides. If you have severe pain that requires rest, nausea and vomiting, and discomfort to light during attacks, and two or three of these symptoms are present, there is a more than 90% chance that your headache is a migraine.
3. Tension headaches
This is the most common type of chronic headache. It is related to emotions and posture. The patient feels a dull, throbbing pain in the frontal, temporal, occipital, or whole head. Sometimes there may be tender points in the neck and shoulder muscles, and sometimes one or more muscle knots can be felt. The interval between attacks is relatively long, and the pain tends to increase over time.
4. Headaches in the elderly
Often associated with hypertension and temporal arteritis, it is also a common cause of headaches in the elderly and needs to be treated with caution.
5. Headaches caused by exposure to toxic substances in the workplace
Exposure to substances such as carbon monoxide, lead, and nitrides can also cause headaches.
6. Sudden headaches with neurological symptoms
Consider spontaneous subarachnoid hemorrhage or meningitis.
7. Headaches after head trauma
Headaches within three months are often related to delayed cerebral hemorrhage or subdural effusion, and if the attack interval is too long, it is necessary to consider that it is not caused by brain injury.
8. Headaches that require immediate medical attention
(1) Any sudden explosive headache that has never been experienced before.
(2) Headaches that were never present before but suddenly occur and become increasingly painful.
(3) Headaches accompanied by fever, convulsions, changes in consciousness, coma, or paralysis of limbs.
(4) Headaches that wake you up from sleep or occur upon waking in the morning, accompanied by vomiting.
(5) Headaches that were present before but have changed in their characteristics.
(6) First occurrence of headaches in individuals over 50 years old.
(7) Headaches that worsen with coughing, exertion, or bending over.
(8) Headaches accompanied by neck stiffness.
(9) Headaches that occur repeatedly in children.
(10) Headaches accompanied by eye pain or ear pain.
(11) Headaches after exercise.
(12) Severe headaches after head impact.
