Thirty Years of Headache

I have some friends with severe headaches and they would say that “my headache is so severe that I want to take my head off” or ” my headache is so severe that I want to hit my head against the wall”. It is the truth.

Having taken pain-killers for my headache for almost 30 years, I was so worried about the side effects that I tried to search traditional medicine for help. I looked for a kind of medical treatment that permanently cures this headache with no side effects. Two years ago, I received Tu-Na three times a week from an acupuncturist who came from China. She thought that my headache is caused by back stiffness which is in turn caused by the accumulation of neck and shoulder stiffness. She tried Tu-Na to relax it, but it didn’t help. Last November I had a terrible headache, since then I began to receive acupuncture treatment. I had never thought that my headache could actually be completely cured.

After I had already tried all the different medical treatments, I met Dr. Fu who is even more patient than me, who wants to cure my headache even more than me. This let me see the light at the end of the tunnel.

So I cooperated with Dr. Fu. During every treatment, Dr. Fu would ask me “does it hurt here?” for every acu point on every meridian. This kind of conversation would repeat numerous times. He found more than 10 pain spots around just the Tai-Yang acu-point. He found the pain spots one by one and did the needling one by one. First the head then the neck; the front then the matching acupoints on the hands and feet to better the results. Headache is like a ever-moving devil. Sometimes hiding in the back and sometimes showing off at the front. Sometimes it is just a little irritant, sometimes it would explode with pain. Today’s pain’s location may not be the same as yesterday’s. It is just like Whack-A-Mole. You have to treat them one by one with a lot of patience and determination.

Dr Fu often reminded me “to avoid catching a cold while outside, remember to wear a scarf and protect the mouth and nose”, and “after using the spa at night remember to dry the body first then wear the wool cap and bath robe” “remember to take your herbal medicine everyday and be mindful of the pillow’s height when you are sleeping and to dry your hair after taking a shower” After these reminders Dr. Fu said with a wry smile “I am like a mom talking to her little kids”. Actually I am not that fragile, I just have a really severe case of headaches and need the doctor’s reminders and self-restraint to prevent the headaches from occurring.

During the treatment process, the frequency, amount of pain, and duration of the headaches lessened. I went from receiving treatment three times a week to twice a week to once a week and then once a month and finally I “graduated”; so good! Thanks to Dr. Fu .

.

.

.

.

.

.


W.Y. (Irvine, CA)