In western medicine, vascular headaches (the kind that are accompanied by throbbing veins in the temples) are typically treated with analgesics such as aspirin and/or by the use of agents such as niacin that dilate the affected blood vessels in the scalp, but in acupuncture a common treatment for such headaches is to stimulate the sensitive points that are located roughly in the center of the webs between the thumbs and the palms of the patient, the gu hé ¦lt;points. The theory of acupuncture states that these points are associated with the digestive system (the large intestine), and that one is acting to relax some kind of hyperactive state in the gastro-intestinal system. Three kinds of sensation are associated with this treatment, sensations that are stronger than those that would be felt by a patient not suffering from a vascular headache: (1) Extreme sensitivity to pain at the points in the webs of the thumbs. (2) In bad headaches, a feeling of nausea that persists for roughly the same period as the stimulation being administered to the webs of the thumbs. (3) Simultaneous relief of the headache. (See Zhen Jiu Xue, p. 177f et passim.)

[source: wikipedia]

Share This