Chinese Medicine
Headache and migraine
Headaches that keep coming back, or migraines that take a day away from you. Dr. Pan checks the cause first, then makes a plan.
For two to four weeks before you come, it helps to keep a headache diary: when each one starts, how bad it is, what you took for it, and what might have set it off. Please bring a list of the medicines, supplements and herbs you take now.
First, check the cause
Most long-term headaches are tension headaches or migraines. They are painful, but usually not dangerous.
How it is treated
- Finding your triggers with the diary: sleep, skipped meals, caffeine, stress, your monthly cycle.
- Medicine for a migraine when it starts, and medicine to prevent them if they come often.
- Acupuncture: very thin needles. It is a long-established treatment for headache in Chinese medicine: it eases the pain and makes migraines come less often.
- Chinese herbs, prescribed for your pattern, to dispel wind, calm the liver and ease the pain. They are checked against the medicines you already take.
How many visits
Usually once a week at first. Six to eight visits make a course; then look at your diary again to see how much better you are: fewer headache days, milder ones, less medicine.
Common questions
Do I need a brain scan?
Most people with long-term headaches do not. Dr. Pan will order one if something in your story or the exam points that way.
Can I have acupuncture with my migraine medicine?
Yes, they work well together. Keep taking your medicine as prescribed; never stop it on your own. If your headaches get better, Dr. Pan may lower a preventive medicine with you, step by step.
I take painkillers almost every day. Is that a problem?
Taking them too often can cause more headaches. Bring them all, and Dr. Pan will make a plan to cut back safely.
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Seen in King of Prussia
Patients travel from King of Prussia, Wayne, Bryn Mawr, Villanova, Radnor, Conshohocken, Malvern, Phoenixville, Devon and Berwyn.