David started having headaches 25 years ago. Although he just suffers from them every 3-4 years, the headaches are severe and normally linger for 2-3 months. The attacks start from the inside corner spread to the back of his right eye. They can come at anytime and last 10 minutes to 3 hours. The pain can be so strong that it makes him want to bang his head. After trying various medications for 10 years without any effect, David was sent to see a consultant, who believed the headaches was caused by a narrowing of his nasal. Two operations were then carried out for his nose but they couldn't stop the headaches. Finally he was given a diagnoses of cluster headache.
This time the headaches started 10 days ago. David followed a friend's advice and decided to try some acupuncture. On the day he came to my clinic, he was having a headache. His pulse was fast and his tongue was bright red with yellow coating. These indicated a heat patern of his problem. I used some points in his head, neck, back and feet. After the treatment he said he felt better and very relaxed. When he came back a week later, he was having an ichy feeling on the right side of his nose, which he said was a sign of onset of a bad headache. But there something positive - he'd only had one attack and a few moments of discomfort after the last session of acupuncture. Then I gave him a similar treatment and afterwards he said the ichy feeling was gone. He promised to come back if the headaches bother him again and went with a big smile. Since then, I haven't heard from him for months.
