Headaches and Acupuncture

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ABOUT VERONICA ROGERS, Licensed Acupuncturist

Ms. Rogers has been in practice for 15 years. She received her Masters in Acupuncture in 2006, which she followed by enrolling in Doctorate Program of Traditional Chinese Medicine specializing in Internal Medicine with a focus on emotional conditions such as anxiety, depression and insomnia. Additionally she has specialized in treating conditions such as headaches, infertility, digestive and respiratory conditions, and physical pain such as neck and back pain for years. Additionally, Ms. Rogers is a mother of two, and understands the chaos of balancing modern day life and the practice the art of Chinese Medicine.


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It is mind boggling how the world has changed with the arrival of our mutual nemesis, Covid-19 virus. Besides the world’s economy, we as individuals all have become victims of the virus in one way or another. Since we are a health crew here at Bay Chiropractic, lets discuss what we know best. Lets discuss your health and what we can do to support it. Most common symptom we have all experienced and which have been induced in those who have had the pleasure of conquering Covid-19 virus - Headaches! Either a little tension headache, dehydration headache, cluster headache, hormonal imbalance headache, chronic and acute migraines, post-Covid19 lingering low grade headache and even hangover headache - all those can and most certainly should be addressed with acupuncture.  

“One of the most common applications of acupuncture is to treat chronic pain, especially headache and migraine pain.” It is a relatively recent treatment option for headaches in our Western culture even though its effects have been utilized in China for centuries. The Cochrane Systematic Review (2016), a commonly cited source, has reported acupuncture to be a useful alternative treatment that reduces the duration and frequency of headaches - both chronic and episodic. Acknowledging the fact that migraine is one of the most disabling neurologic diseases worldwide,  clinicians and  researchers  have made significant efforts into elucidating the pathophysiology of this complex disorder and searching for potent treatment approaches with minimal side effects. “Migraines are difficult to treat, and current treatment options have many unwanted side effects, such as exacerbating headache pain in those with CM. Therefore, while the primary treatment for migraines is drug therapy, acupuncture is gaining increasing attention as a viable addition to the treatment management of migraine patients due to its measurable effects on both the duration and frequency of migraine attacks.”

Multiple studies have shown evidence for acupuncture being at least non-inferior to conventional drug therapy (e.g., Topiramate, for episodic migraine prevention), with one study proposing the superiority of acupuncture over propranolol, based on an indirect comparison analysis. The data provides support for using acupuncture in migraine patients with common co-morbidities of depression and anxiety as well as it significantly increases certain brain metabolites involved in the transmission of pain during migraines, which could explain how acupuncture is able to effectively relieve migraine-associated pain. There are a few links to research articles at the end of this newsletter you can check out if you would like to learn more details on how acupuncture treats headaches.

Neurological benefits of Acupuncture:

  • Management of general pain

  • Less headaches

  • Good night sleep

  • Anxiety & Depression reduction

  • Increased blood flow to the brain

  • Improvement of cognitive function such as focus and memory

“Currently, acupuncture is considered to be a safe, helpful, and available alternative option for patients who have not responded to or complied with conventional pharmacotherapy.”

Acupuncture therapy statistically has been shown to be only effective after a certain number of sessions (minimum 6–8), but in my professional experience, everybody is different and some individuals feel better just after a few consecutive visits with maintenance treatments monthly after that. In fact, it is highly recommended to get a tune-up acupuncture treatment as a stress reduction in general. We all know by now that stress is the biggest culprit of all diseases and I will discuss stress management with acupuncture in our next newsletter at greater detail.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to call me or set an appointment for a consultation. 310-993-8482

Veronica Rogers, LAc.    


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Monday
8:00 am - 5:00 pm
Tuesday
8:00 am - 5:00 pm
Wednesday
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Thursday
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Friday
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Sunday
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