Acupuncture for Migraines & Headaches in San Diego

Classical Chinese Medicine for Chronic Headache Relief

Your head hurts. Again. Maybe it's the throbbing migraine that forces you into a dark room for hours. Maybe it's the tension headache that wraps around your skull like a vice. Maybe it's the occipital pressure that starts at the base of your neck and radiates upward. Maybe it's constant, low-grade, wearing you down day after day.

You've tried over-the-counter painkillers until they stopped working. Maybe you pop NSAIDs like Tic Tacs. Do you take prescription medications that make you foggy or cause rebound headaches? Maybe you've been told it's stress, or hormones, or just something you have to live with.

Classical Chinese Medicine sees headaches differently. Your head pain isn't random. It's a signal that something specific is out of balance, and that imbalance has a location, a pattern, and a cause that can be addressed. Gateway Acupuncture & Wellness treats migraines and headaches by identifying the root pattern creating the pain and releasing it at the source.

Why Your Head Hurts: The Patterns

Not all headaches are the same. The location, quality, timing, and triggers tell us exactly what's happening in your body.

Occipital Headaches (Back of Head and Neck)

Pain at the base of your skull, often radiating up the back of your head or down into your neck and shoulders. This is typically Bladder Channel pathology. The Bladder Channel runs from your eyes, over your head, down your neck and entire back, all the way down to the heels and pinky toes.

What creates this: Unresolved external pathogens (you had a cold or flu that never fully cleared), chronic stress creating tension along the back of the body, or latent pathology being held in the joints and muscles of the upper back and neck. Your body is trying to protect deeper organs by holding the problem superficially in the muscle-sinew channel, but this pattern of stasis drains energy and creates chronic pain.

Temporal/Side of Head Migraines

Throbbing pain on one or both sides of your head, often behind the eyes or at the temples. Light sensitivity, nausea, the need to lie in a dark room. This is classic Gallbladder Channel pathology, often with Liver involvement.

What creates this: Liver and Gallbladder channels run along the sides of your body and head. When the Liver system becomes constrained (from stress, suppressed emotions, hormonal fluctuations), it creates Heat that rises to the head. This Heat can manifest as throbbing, pounding pain. Migraines often correlate with menstrual cycles, stress peaks, or digestive upset because these all affect Liver function.

Frontal Headaches (Forehead and Above Eyes)

Pain across your forehead, pressure behind your eyes, sometimes sinus congestion. This is typically Stomach Channel pathology, sometimes with Large Intestine involvement.

What creates this: Digestive dysfunction. The Stomach Channel runs across your forehead. When your digestive system is overwhelmed (from poor diet, irregular eating, stress affecting digestion), Heat or Dampness accumulates and rises to the head. These headaches often worsen after eating, when you're hungry, or in connection to certain dietary habits.

Top of Head Headaches (Vertex)

Pain at the very top of your head, like pressure pushing down or pulling up. This involves the Liver Channel (which terminates at the vertex) and often indicates severe Liver constraint or Blood deficiency.

What creates this: Long-term stress, suppressed anger, or constitutional Blood deficiency. When Liver Blood can't nourish the top of the head properly, you get this unique vertex pain. It's often accompanied by dizziness, blurry vision, or feeling ungrounded.

Whole Head Headaches

Generalized pain, pressure, or heaviness affecting your entire head. This often indicates deeper constitutional issues - Kidney deficiency, Blood deficiency, or pathology at the Yuan level affecting multiple channels simultaneously.

Why Painkillers Stop Working

You've probably noticed that over-the-counter pain medication stops being effective over time. You need more to get the same relief. Or it works for a few hours and the headache comes roaring back worse than before.

This is because painkillers suppress the pain signal without addressing why your head hurts in the first place. The underlying pattern (Heat rising to the head, tension in the channels, latent pathology creating inflammation) is still there. Your body keeps trying to alert you through pain. The medication just mutes this important alarm.

Worse, some pain medications (especially those containing caffeine) create rebound headaches. Your body becomes dependent on the medication to maintain normal blood flow and neurotransmitter levels. When the medication wears off, you get a different layer of headache from the withdrawal.

Prescription migraine medications (triptans, CGRP inhibitors) can be more effective, but they're still suppressing symptoms. And they come with side effects - cardiovascular concerns, medication overuse headaches, dependency, fatigue, cognitive effects, and more.

Classical acupuncture addresses the pattern creating the headache. When the root cause resolves, the headaches stop. No medication needed.

The Stress-Headache Connection

Almost everyone with chronic headaches notices they worsen with stress. But stress doesn't cause headaches directly. Stress affects specific organ systems, and those systems create the headache pattern.

Stress affects the Liver. In Chinese medicine, the Liver governs the smooth flow of Qi throughout your body. When you're stressed, Liver Qi becomes constrained, stuck, unable to flow freely. This creates Heat. Heat rises (it's the nature of Heat to go up). When it rises to your head, you get a headache. This is the mechanism behind tension headaches, stress-triggered migraines, and head pain that accompanies tight muscles in the neck and shoulders..

Stress affects digestion. When you're stressed, your body diverts resources away from digestion (you're in fight-or-flight mode, not rest-and-digest). Digestive function weakens. Food isn't processed properly. Dampness and Heat accumulate more easily due to insufficient digestive power. This can rise to the head and creates frontal headaches, sinus issues, the heavy foggy feeling.

Stress depletes your reserves. Chronic stress burns through your mediumship resources (what Chinese medicine calls Blood, Thick and Thin Fluids—hormones and body fluids, Yin, and Jing—your reproductive fluids). When these become deficient, your head doesn't receive proper nourishment. You get dull, constant headaches, vertex pain, the feeling that your head is heavy and empty at the same time.

Treating the headache without addressing how stress affects these systems is why stress management alone doesn't always work. You need to restore the function of the organs and their related resources that stress is compromising.

Hormones and Migraines

If you have a period, you've probably noticed your migraines correlate with your menstrual cycle. Premenstrual migraines, ovulation headaches, perimenopausal increase in migraine frequency - these aren't coincidental.

Hormones and Liver function are intimately connected in Chinese medicine. The Liver governs Blood, stores Blood, regulates the smooth flow of Blood. Hormones are carried in the Blood. When hormones fluctuate (before menstruation, during ovulation, in perimenopause), the Liver has to manage those fluctuations. This process requires further resources and energy.

If your Liver is already constrained from stress, the additional demand of hormonal shifts can overwhelm it. Liver Qi stagnates, Heat rises, and you get a migraine. This is why hormonal migraines often involve throbbing temple pain, light sensitivity, irritability, and breast tenderness (all Liver-related).

Treating hormonal migraines means treating Liver function and the hormonal system (Chong Mai, the Sea of Blood). Not just managing pain when it appears, but restoring the system that should be regulating hormones smoothly in the first place. Classical Chinese Medicine does this by understanding where the body needs help and stepping in to assist it through the use of the right channels, not just throwing in Liver points and hoping for the best.

How Classical Acupuncture Treats Headaches

We identify the specific pattern creating your headache and treat the root:

For occipital/neck headaches: We address Bladder Channel pathology. Often this involves releasing latent pathogens that were never fully cleared, treating musculoskeletal holdings in the upper back and neck (Sinew Channels), and restoring the flow of Qi down the back of the body instead of creating tension and pain.

For migraines and temple headaches: We treat Liver and Gallbladder. This means releasing Liver constraint (often through Luo point bleeding to release emotional holdings), clearing Heat from rising to the head, and regulating the smooth flow of Qi. For hormonal migraines, we also address the Chong Mai (Sea of Blood) to regulate hormonal fluctuations. Tapping into the second confluence of divergent channels can also instruct the body to manufacture more Blood.

For frontal/sinus headaches: We strengthen digestive and elimination function. The Stomach Channel runs across your forehead. When digestion is compromised, Dampness and Heat accumulate and rise. We treat the digestive system (Spleen and Stomach) to prevent the accumulation, and we clear what's already risen to the head and encourage the body to flush pathogens out via body fluids.

For vertex headaches: We nourish Liver Blood and release severe Liver constraint. The vertex is where the Liver Channel terminates. Pain here indicates either Blood deficiency (not enough nourishment reaching the top) or severe constraint (Qi trying to escape upward). We build what's deficient and release what's stuck.

For chronic daily headaches: We address constitutional depletion. If your head hurts constantly, you're likely depleted at a deep level (Blood deficiency, Kidney deficiency, or pathology at the Yuan level). We rebuild these foundational resources while treating the acute pain pattern. This often involves some lifestyle and dietary therapy.

The treatment might involve acupuncture along specific channels, bleeding visible vessels to release Heat or stagnation, moxa to warm and move Qi, or techniques to release muscle tension and restore normal channel flow. Many patients notice immediate relief during or after treatment, with deeper pattern resolution occurring over weeks.

What Changes Look Like

Headache treatment creates shifts that often surprise patients:

Acute relief during treatment. Many patients notice their headache lessening or disappearing during the acupuncture session itself. The pain that was throbbing becomes dull, then fades. This happens because we're directly treating the channel where the pain is occurring. On rare occasions, the discomfort gets temporarily worse and then much better.

Headaches become less frequent. Instead of daily headaches, you get them a few times a week. Then a few times a month. The pattern is breaking.

Intensity decreases. When headaches do occur, they're milder. A 9/10 migraine becomes a 5/10 headache. You can function through it instead of being incapacitated.

Triggers lose their power. Stress used to guarantee a headache. Now you can handle stress without your head exploding. Hormonal fluctuations still happen, but they don't automatically trigger migraines. Food triggers become less sensitive.

You need less medication. The Excedrin or Imitrex you were taking multiple times a week becomes occasional. Eventually, you might not need it at all.

Other symptoms improve. Because we're treating the root pattern (Liver constraint, digestive weakness, Blood deficiency), other related symptoms often improve too. Better sleep, more stable mood, improved digestion, less PMS, clearer thinking.

You feel like yourself again. This is what patients describe most often. Not living in fear of the next headache. Not planning your life around when you'll be incapacitated. Just living.

Most patients notice reduction in headache frequency and intensity within 4-5 weeks of weekly treatment. Complete resolution of chronic headache patterns typically takes around 3-6 months, sometimes longer for migraines that have been present for years.

What Patients Are Saying

"I've had migraines since my 20s. I'd tried everything including Botox and daily preventive medication. After two months of treatment with Diego, I went from 15 migraines a month to maybe two."
— Amanda R., Mission Hills

"Tension headaches every single day for five years. Diego treated my neck and upper back channels and within three weeks the daily headaches improved dramatically. I still get them occasionally when I'm really stressed, but nothing like before."
— Jason M., North Park

"The hormonal migraines were destroying me. Three days before my period every month, I'd be in a dark room unable to function. Diego explained the Liver-hormone connection and treated that. My cycles are still happening but the migraines aren't."
— Catherine L., Rancho Bernardo

Who This Approach Serves

Classical acupuncture for migraines and headaches is particularly effective for people who:

• Experience chronic tension headaches, migraines, or daily headaches

• Have headaches that correlate with stress, hormones, or specific triggers

• Have tried medications with limited lasting relief or unwanted side effects

• Get rebound headaches from pain medication overuse

• Want to address root causes rather than just suppress pain

• Experience headaches alongside other symptoms (digestive issues, PMS, neck tension, sleep problems)

• Have been told to just manage symptoms or that they'll always have headaches

Your First Visit: What to Expect

Initial Patient Intake & Treatment (80 minutes | $225)

Your first session includes:

• Comprehensive headache history including location, quality, timing, triggers, what helps, what makes it worse, and what you've tried before

• Classical diagnostic assessment using pulse reading to identify which channels and organ systems are creating the headache pattern

• Discussion of your story, stress levels, hormonal patterns, digestion, sleep, and other factors contributing to headaches

• Personalized treatment plan addressing your unique headache pattern (not a generic protocol, but treatment specific to your pattern)

• First acupuncture treatment

Follow-Up Treatments (55 minutes | $180)

Most patients begin with weekly sessions. The first few treatments focus on reducing acute pain and frequency. As the pattern shifts, we address the underlying constitutional issues (Liver constraint, Blood deficiency, digestive weakness). We space sessions out as headaches decrease.

Frequently Asked Questions

How quickly will my headaches improve?

Many patients notice some improvement within the first 2-3 treatments. Meaningful reduction in frequency and intensity typically happens within 4-5 weeks of weekly treatment. Complete resolution of chronic headache patterns usually takes around 3-6 months, sometimes longer for long-standing migraines.

Can acupuncture stop a migraine in progress?

Yes. If you come in during an active migraine, we can often reduce or stop it. However, treating the root pattern requires regular sessions, not just acute treatment when you're already in pain.

Will I be able to stop my medication?

Many patients are able to reduce or discontinue headache medications as the pattern resolves. This should be done in consultation with your prescribing physician, especially if you're on daily preventive medications. Never stop prescribed medications abruptly without medical supervision.

What if I have migraines with aura?

Migraines with aura respond well to Classical acupuncture. The aura (visual disturbances, numbness, speech changes) indicates the migraine is affecting specific neurological pathways. We treat the channels involved in those pathways along with the root pattern.

Do you treat cluster headaches?

Yes. Cluster headaches are particularly challenging, but they respond to Classical acupuncture because we're addressing the channel pathology creating the intense, cyclic pain pattern. Treatment often takes longer than other headache types.

Do you take insurance?

We operate as a cash-pay practice but provide detailed superbills that you can submit to your insurance company for possible reimbursement. Many insurance plans cover acupuncture for chronic pain including headaches and migraines.

Ready to Begin?

Schedule your initial consultation to explore how Classical Acupuncture can resolve your chronic headaches.

Complimentary Consultation: 15 minutes
Initial Intake & Treatment: 80 minutes | $225
Follow-Up Treatments: 55 minutes | $180