Can Acupuncture Help with Migraines and Headaches?

Can Acupuncture Help with Migraines and Headaches?

Yes. In my experience, acupuncture combined with gua sha and cupping is one of the most effective ways to relieve tension headaches, and it can help with many migraines too.

I’m Julie Nelson, a Doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine. I’ve been practicing in Kitsilano for over 10 years, and I see patients with headaches and migraines every single day. My training focuses heavily on musculoskeletal pain relief, which matters, because most of the headaches I treat start in the muscles of the neck, shoulders and jaw.

In this post, I’ll explain how to tell what kind of headache you have, how I treat each type, what a real patient’s recovery looked like, and the stretches you can start doing today.

Where your headache starts tells us what’s causing it

Headaches and migraines have many causes, and the location of your pain is one of the best clues. Here are the three patterns I see most often in my clinic.

Headaches at the back of the head (occipital headaches)

These headaches radiate up the back of the neck into the base of the skull, and they often feel like a pulsing or throbbing pain. They’re caused by tight trapezius and neck muscles, which is where most of us hold our tension.

Long hours sitting at a desk, staring at a screen, or carrying a lot of stress are the usual triggers. When these muscles stay tight, blood flow to the back of the head is restricted, and the headache follows.

Headaches at the temples and jaw (temporal headaches)

If your headache sits at your temples or along your jawline, the cause is often clenching or grinding your teeth. You might wake up with a headache, or notice it building toward the end of the day.

Stress and biting down are the main culprits. Here’s something many people don’t realize: a night guard can actually make these headaches worse, because it gives your jaw something to bite into. Still, mouthguards are necessary to protect your teeth, so the goal is to relax the jaw muscles rather than give up the guard. You can read more in my post on how to treat TMJ pain and headaches.

Hormonal migraines

Some migraines are linked to hormone imbalances, often following a monthly pattern. These need a different approach, which I explain below.

How I treat headaches and migraines

For tension headaches at the back of the head and jaw-related headaches at the temples, I use a three-step sequence that works really well to release tight muscles.

1. Gua sha. I start by gently scraping the skin with a smooth tool to soften the fascia, the connective tissue that wraps around your muscles. This also lets me feel exactly how tight each area is.
2. Moving cupping. Next, I glide suction cups across the body to release tight muscles. Think of it like a deep tissue massage that lifts the tissue instead of pressing into it.
3. I finish with acupuncture to calm the nervous system, ease pain and keep blood flowing to the areas that need it.

For patients with tight jaw (TMJ) muscles, I end the session with facial cupping to relax the muscles involved in clenching and grinding.

For migraines caused by hormone imbalance, I look at Chinese herbal medicine alongside acupuncture. I also recommend a hormone test so we can understand what’s driving the pattern.

A real patient story: Anna’s headaches stopped

Anna is a 28-year-old tax accountant who came to see me last March with debilitating, ongoing headaches. When I asked about her day, she explained that she spent long hours sitting at her computer, weekends included, with very few breaks.

On top of constant headaches, she had tight neck and shoulder muscles, plus numbness and tingling down her arms.

I started with gua sha on the back of her neck, including the muscles at the front of her throat, to get a sense of how tight the area was. Then I worked on her shoulders and applied moving cupping, followed by acupuncture. Because her muscles were so tight and she sat so much, I treated her twice a week instead of once. She also booked massage to support the acupuncture.

Once we relieved the tension in her neck and back, Anna’s headaches stopped. Today, she comes in once a week during busy tax season to keep them from coming back.

Name and some details changed to protect patient privacy.

What to expect from treatment

Most people feel immediate relief in their tight neck and shoulders after the first session. Releasing these muscles is critical, because it gets blood moving back into the base of the skull, where many headaches begin.

If your muscles are very tight, plan on:

• One acupuncture treatment a week for three weeks. Severe cases, like Anna’s, may need two a week at first.
• A massage in the same week, ideally 2 to 3 days apart from your acupuncture, for those same three weeks. Together, the two treatments break down tight muscle fibres and improve blood flow.
• Simple exercises at home to support your treatment between visits.

After that, many patients come in for occasional maintenance sessions during their most stressful or busiest periods.

Stretches to relieve neck and shoulder tension

These are the stretches I give my patients to do between treatments. Move slowly and gently, and stop if anything feels sharp or painful.

1. Check your range of motion. Turn your head slowly to look left, then right. Repeat a few times to get a sense of how far you can comfortably turn.
2. Head circles. Roll your head in slow circles, looking up and then down.
3. Chin to armpit. Tilt your chin toward one armpit and hold for 5 seconds. Then slowly roll your head in half circles to the other side and repeat.
4. Take frequent breaks from your computer. Getting up regularly and doing a few head rolls is the first step to preventing tension headaches.
5. Yoga stretches. Cat-cow and child’s pose are both excellent for releasing the neck, shoulders and back.
6. Keep moving. General movement and stretching throughout the day release tension from your whole body, not just your neck.

When to see your doctor first

Acupuncture works best for headaches with a deep, dull ache combined with sore, tight neck and shoulder muscles. Some headaches need medical attention first:

• Persistent, severe, stabbing pain that isn’t relieved by Tylenol or Advil. Please consult your doctor.
• Headaches after a car accident or a blow to the head. It’s important to tell the difference between tight muscles and concussion symptoms, since a concussion can also cause headaches. Learn more about how acupuncture helps heal concussions.
• A sudden, severe headache, or one that comes with vision changes, numbness, weakness, confusion or trouble speaking. Seek emergency care right away.

Ready for relief?

You don’t have to keep living with headaches. If your pain sits at the back of your head, your temples or your jaw, or if you suspect your migraines follow a hormonal pattern, I’d love to help you find the cause and treat it.

I’m Julie Nelson, Doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine at Julie Nelson TCM in Kitsilano. Book your appointment online and let’s get you feeling like yourself again.