Headaches are one of the most common disorders seen in our clinic and the symptoms strongly disturb the quality of people's lives, both at home and at work. Almost everyone has had an experience of headache. It can occur at any age, some may last only a short while others are long-lasting and frequent. Headaches may occur on their own or be combined with other symptoms. The Common causes of headache in TCM include:

1. Due to blood stagnation
People who have this type of headache usually have a history of prior injury. Chinese medicine considers that any injury occurring around the upper part of the body (such as neck, head, upper back, shoulder, arm injury), whether from a long time ago or just recently, will affect the circulation around this area. This will affect the circulation by disrupting flow and causing blood stagnation. If the blood stasis is not cleared quickly it will cause poor circulation around the region where to injury occurred, especially around the neck and shoulder region. This will affect the blood flow to the head, causing headaches.

Suggestions for headache due to blood stagnation:
If you have the type of headache which is mentioned above, you should also treat the region of your new or old injury whilst you are undergoing treatment for your headaches. This is important as the injury is the cause of the headache.

We recommend the following to improve your circulation (especially in the region of your injury): exercise, keeping your body warm, using a hot water bottle in the area of the old injury to improve the circulation. We recommend the following ideas for diet habits: avoid drinking frozen/cold water (especially in the cold season), you can drink warm or room temperature water instead, you can eat food which have warm characteristics. These recommendations are beneficial for improving circulation and preventing blood stasis.

2. Weakness in the body (Qi & Blood deficiency)
People who suffer these types of headaches, usually have the following conditions in their body: weakness, iron deficiency, long-term illness, post-operation or recent labour. All of these conditions can cause the body’s Qi and Blood to be deficient and the deficiency can affect flow of circulation to the head causing headaches.

Suggestions for headache due to deficiency:
Avoid overworking and be sure to get enough rest and sleep. Avoid strong exercise until your body is stronger. For women, avoid exercise during menstruation. We recommend eating a certain amount of nutritious foods which will help to increase your Blood, Qi and energy, such as: Chinese red dates, goji berries, beef bone soup and eggs (for more suggestions please see my articles on diet therapy). We suggest that while you are treating the headaches, you can also pay more attention to strengthening your body’s deficiency, as deficiency in the body is the cause of your headaches.