Many people can experience the pain as well as discomfort a headache can cause. If you are one of those people looking for ways to treat your headache in a natural way, then you should try pressure points and acupressure. In this post we are going to know about pressure points for headaches.
Pressure points are the extra sensitive parts of our bodies, which can stimulate relief in one’s body. Practitioners of reflexology, the discipline of Chinese medicine, firmly believe that if you touch pressure points in a specific way, you’ll be able to improve your health, restore balance in your body and even ease pain.
Reflexology is a study of how a certain part of a body is connected to another one, which means that you may have to massage another different location, like your hand, for treating a different area, such as your head. You will be able to reach for every right pressure point to ease pain.
So if you would like to learn more about how you can treat your headache this way, then it’s very important to know how to do it correctly. And in this article, we will tell you about all the pressure points you should try next time you get a headache.
How pressure points work
You may be familiar with acupuncture, which is a type of traditional Chinese medicine that involves sticking needles into certain points on the body.
Acupressure works on the same principles as acupuncture, but instead of using needles, you can use your bare hands to apply pressure to specific points and get relief from various ailments.
“(Acupressure) is working on medicine from inside the body, as opposed to a pure Western perspective where we’re bringing in an external agent like a drug, for example,” said Malcolm Taw, MD, FACP, director of UCLA East-West Medicine Center – Westlake Village and Board Certified Acupuncturist.
A 2010 study published in The American Journal of Chinese Medicine put this idea of internal versus external medicine to the test. The researchers examined two groups of participants with chronic headaches for a month: one group was treated with acupressure and one group was treated with muscle relaxants.
The researchers found that acupressure was more effective at relieving pain and the effects were longer lasting than muscle relaxants.
Pressure Points For Headaches You Need To Know About
1. Union Valley
You can find the union valley pressure points located on a web between the thumb and index finger. In order to treat your headache:
- Start by firmly (but not painfully) pinching this certain area with the thumb as well as the index finger of the opposite hand of yours. Do this for 10 seconds.
- Next thing you need to do is to make some small circles with a thumb on this area. First in only one direction, then in the other direction. Do this for 10 seconds each.
- Finally, repeat this process on an Union Valley point on the opposite hand.
This kind of pressure point treatment can effectively relieve tension in your head and neck. The tension that is very often associated with a headache.
2. Drilling Bamboo
You can find drilling bamboo points located at indentations on either side of a spot where a bridge of your nose meets a ridge of your eyebrows. In order to use these pressure points for treating headaches:
- Start by using both of the index fingers so that you can apply solid pressure to both points simultaneously.
- Then hold for 10 seconds.
- Finally, release and repeat.
Touching these pressure points may successfully relieve headaches which are caused by sinus pain, eyestrain or pressure.
3. Gates Of Consciousness
You can find the gates of consciousness pressure points located at a base of a skull in parallel hollow areas between 2 vertical neck muscles. In order to use these pressure points:
- Start by placing the middle and index fingers of either of your hands onto these specific pressure points.
- Then try pressing firmly upward on both of the sides simultaneously for 10 seconds. Finally, release and repeat.
By applying firm touch to these certain pressure points, you will be able to relieve your headache that is caused by tension in a neck.
4. Third Eye
You can find the third eye point located between the two eyebrows where a bridge of a nose meets a forehead.
- First and foremost, start by using an index finger of your hand in order to apply a firm pressure to this specific area for 1 minute.
Firm pressure which is applied to the third eye is believed to relieve sinus pressure as well as eyestrain that often cause headaches.
5. Shoulder Well
You can find the shoulder well pressure point located at the edge of a shoulder, halfway between a shoulder point and a base of your neck. In order to use this pressure point:
- Start by using a thumb of one of your hands to apply circular, firm pressure to this specific point for 1 minute.
- Then proceed by switching and repeating on the opposite side.
By applying firm touch to a shoulder pressure point, you will be able to relieve any stiffness in your shoulders and neck, which can consequently relieve neck pain and prevent headaches which are caused by this type of sensation.
Final Thoughts
As can be seen, there are a lot of pressure points you can try to successfully relieve your headache. All you have to do is choose the pressure point or points you prefer the most and use them to fight headaches.
